Systems and methods for authenticating online users with an access control server

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method for authenticating an online user with an access control server (ACS) is provided. The method includes receiving, at a risk-based authentication enabled (RBA-enabled) directory server, an authentication request message including authentication data, extracting, using the RBA-enabled directory server, the authentication data from the authentication request message, transmitting the extracted authentication data to an RBA engine, generating, using the RBA engine, based at least in part on the extracted authentication data, RBA result data including a risk score, a risk analysis, and at least one reason code, transmitting the RBA result data to the RBA-enabled directory server, embedding, using the RBA-enabled directory server, the RBA result data into the authentication request message to generate an enhanced authentication request message, and transmitting the enhanced authentication request message to the ACS to enable the ACS to make an authentication decision based on the RBA result data.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 62/688,528, filed Jun. 22, 2018, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORAUTHENTICATING ONLINE USERS,” U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/688,529, filed Jun. 22, 2018, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORAUTHENTICATING ONLINE USERS WITH AN ACCESS CONTROL SERVER,” U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/688,546, filed Jun. 22, 2018,entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTHENTICATING ONLINE USERS INREGULATED ENVIRONMENTS,” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/688,532, filed Jun. 22, 2018, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORAUTHENTICATING ONLINE USERS,” the entire contents and disclosures ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present application relates generally to authenticating online usersover an electronic network, and more particularly, to authenticatingonline users with an access control server using risk-basedauthentication.

Transactions conducted over electronic payment networks are growingexponentially. For card-not-present transactions (e.g., transactions inwhich the consumer does not actually provide a payment card to themerchant), fraud is markedly higher. Accordingly, for such transactions,authentication procedures are often implemented to verify that thealleged cardholder is, in fact, the actual or legitimate cardholder.

In at least some known authentication systems, the bank that issued thepayment card for the transaction (referred to as the issuer) contractswith an access control server (ACS) for authentication services.Specifically, the ACS analyzes at least some of the data associated withthe transaction, determines whether or not it is likely that the allegedcardholder is, in fact, the actual or legitimate cardholder, and reportsthat determination to the issuer.

However, contracting with an ACS for authentication services may berelatively expensive for an issuer. Further, different issuers maycontract with different ACSs. Accordingly, the amount of data that aparticular ACS is able to leverage when performing authenticationservices may be fairly limited, as that ACS may only have access to arelatively small number of transactions. Further, at least some ACSs donot have the capability to perform more sophisticated (and thus moreaccurate) authentication procedures. In addition, ACSs that are able toprovide some level of fraud detection capability may temporarily losesuch capability (e.g., due to equipment malfunction), directly impactingtheir ability to successfully authenticate online users.

Some authentication systems may also implement strong consumerauthentication (SCA) (or just “strong authentication”) for certaintransactions. For example, an issuing bank may insist on authenticatingconsumers during online transactions (e.g., with a username andpassword, or by SMS text message). Such tools may help issuers verifyidentity and authenticate cardholders, but they may also increasefriction with the cardholders, which sometimes leads to transactionsbeing abandoned. This can result in losses to the merchant and to theunderlying payment card network. Further, some SCA methods such aspasswords may be less trustworthy than others, which may lead toincreased risk in transactions.

In some markets, regulators may require SCA on digital transactions. Forexample, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India's central bank, requiresthat all digital transactions are authenticated using SCA. While theseregulations have reduced fraud in India, they create considerablefriction during the check-out experience. Cardholders get frustratedwith having to provide a password or being timed out of the transaction,and merchants are dissatisfied when cardholders abandon transactions dueto their frustrations.

Accordingly, it is desirable to have a computer-implementedauthentication platform that is capable of performing sophisticatedauthentication services on behalf of ACSs that are unable to do so.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for authenticating anonline user with an access control server (ACS) is provided. The methodincludes receiving, at a risk-based authentication enabled (RBA-enabled)directory server, an authentication request message, the authenticationrequest message including authentication data, extracting, using theRBA-enabled directory server, the authentication data from theauthentication request message, transmitting the extractedauthentication data to an RBA engine, generating, using the RBA engine,based at least in part on the extracted authentication data, RBA resultdata including a risk score, a risk analysis, and at least one reasoncode, transmitting the RBA result data to the RBA-enabled directoryserver, embedding, using the RBA-enabled directory server, the RBAresult data into the authentication request message to generate anenhanced authentication request message, and transmitting the enhancedauthentication request message to the ACS to enable the ACS to make anauthentication decision based on the RBA result data.

In another aspect, an authentication platform for authenticating anonline user with an access control server (ACS) is provided. Theauthentication platform includes a memory device, and at least oneprocessor coupled to the memory device. The at least one processor isconfigured to receive an authentication request message, theauthentication request message including authentication data, extractthe authentication data from the authentication request message,generate, based at least in part on the extracted authentication data,risk-based authentication (RBA) result data including a risk score, arisk analysis, and at least one reason code, embed the RBA result datainto the authentication request message to generate an enhancedauthentication request message, and transmit the enhanced authenticationrequest message to the ACS to enable the ACS to make an authenticationdecision based on the RBA result data.

In a further aspect, at least one non-transitory computer-readablestorage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereonfor authenticating an online user on behalf of an access control server(ACS) is provided. When executed by at least one processor, thecomputer-executable instructions cause the at least one processor toreceive an authentication request message, the authentication requestmessage including authentication data, extract the authentication datafrom the authentication request message, generate, based at least inpart on the extracted authentication data, risk-based authentication(RBA) result data including a risk score, a risk analysis, and at leastone reason code, embed the RBA result data into the authenticationrequest message to generate an enhanced authentication request message,and transmit the enhanced authentication request message to the ACS toenable the ACS to make an authentication decision based on the RBAresult data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-12 show example embodiments of the methods and systems describedherein.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example RBA platform incommunication with a multi-party payment card system for processingpayment transactions in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is an expanded block diagram of an example embodiment of acomputer system used in processing payment transactions that includes aserver system in accordance with one example embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example configuration of a server system such asthe server system shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example configuration of a client system shown inFIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating transaction flow in anexample authentication system.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating transaction flow in anotherexample authentication system.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an example method for authenticating a useron behalf of an access control server (ACS).

FIG. 8 is a data flow diagram of another example method forauthenticating an online user.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of another example method for authenticating anonline user.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a further example method for authenticatingan online user.

FIGS. 11A and 11B are swim-lane diagrams illustrating additional exampleembodiments involving conditional SCA evaluation on transactionsassociated with a regulated market.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a further example advanced authenticationprocess for authenticating an online user and for increasing approvals,reducing fraud, and improving consumer experience.

Although specific features of various embodiments may be shown in somedrawings and not in others, this is for convenience only. Any feature ofany drawing may be referenced and/or claimed in combination with anyfeature of any other drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The systems and methods described herein are directed to authenticatingan online user on behalf of an access control server (ACS). A risk-basedauthentication enabled (RBA-enabled) directory server receives anauthentication request message, the authentication request messageincludes authentication data. The RBA-enabled directory server extractsthe authentication data from the authentication request message, andtransmits the extracted authentication data to an RBA engine. The RBAengine then generates, based at least in part on the extractedauthentication data, RBA result data including a risk score, a riskanalysis, and at least one reason code, and transmits the RBA resultdata to the RBA-enabled directory server. The RBA-enabled directoryserver embeds the RBA result data into the authentication requestmessage to generate an enhanced authentication request message, andtransmits the enhanced authentication request message to the ACS toenable the ACS to make an authentication decision based on the RBAresult data.

As noted above, in at least some known authentication systems, a bankthat issued a payment card for a transaction (referred to as the issuer)contracts with an ACS for authentication services. Specifically, the ACSanalyzes at least some of the data associated with the transaction,determines whether or not it is likely that the alleged cardholder is,in fact, the actual or legitimate cardholder, and reports thatdetermination to the issuer.

However, in at least some known authentication systems, contracting withan ACS for authentication services may be relatively expensive for anissuer. Further, different issuers may contract with different ACSs.Accordingly, the amount of data that a particular ACS is able toleverage when performing authentication services may be fairly limited,as that ACS may only have access to a relatively small number oftransactions. Further, at least some ACSs do not have the capability toperform more sophisticated (and thus more accurate) authenticationprocedures. In addition, ACSs that are able to provide some level offraud detection capability may temporarily lose those capabilities(e.g., due to equipment malfunction), directly impacting their abilityto successfully authenticate online users.

Further, at least some ACSs rely on their associated issuers for updatedand accurate fraud information. Accordingly, those ACSs can only improvetheir fraud detection and authentication procedures if they receive thenecessary data from those issuers. Also, at least some ACSs do not havesufficient resources to develop more sophisticated authenticationprocedures, and accordingly, are unable to compete with moresophisticated entities.

Accordingly, to address these limitations of known authenticationsystems, the systems and methods described herein allow an ACS torealize the benefits of RBA procedures, even if the ACS lacks thecapability to perform more sophisticated authentication procedures, suchas RBA. As described herein, RBA refers to performing authentication ontransactions using a rich, comprehensive data set that is generally notavailable to an issuer or ACS. For example, as described herein, RBA mayinclude performing authentication using the 3DS 2 Protocol (for exampleversions 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, and subsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol).The 3DS Protocols are owned and updated by EMVCo. Further, as describedherein, RBA may be performed by an authentication platform that isoperated by a payment processing network. Thus, for authenticationpurposes, the authentication platform is capable of leveraging largevolumes of historical transaction data for all transactions previouslyprocessed by the payment processing network (as compared to therelatively small number of transactions processed by a particular ACS).

Specifically, in the systems and methods described herein, theauthentication system uses the 3DS 2 Protocol (or subsequent versions ofthe 3DS Protocol) for authentication, and performs RBA on behalf of ACSproviders that are unable to perform RBA. An RBA-enabled directoryserver is communicatively coupled to a RBA engine (which may becollectively referred to as an authentication platform). The RBA-enableddirectory server and the RBA engine facilitate performing RBA behalf ofACS providers, as described herein. The RBA-enabled directory server andthe RBA engine may be operated, for example, by an interchange network(e.g., a payment processing network).

The RBA-enabled directory server receives an authentication request(AReq) message from a 3DS server. However, instead of immediatelyforwarding the AReq message to an ACS, the RBA-enabled directory servertransmits at least some of the data in the AReq message (e.g.,authentication data) to the RBA engine.

In the example embodiment, the RBA engine analyzes the data in the AReqmessage to generate RBA result data. For example, the RBA engine maycompare the data in the AReq message to one or more long term variables(“LTV”). The one or more LTV may include historical authentication dataassociated with the payment account number (PAN) at issue, historicalauthorization data associated with the PAN, other historical dataassociated with the PAN, etc. The LTV may be associated with both cardpresent and card not present historical transactions. For example, theLTV may include cardholder shipping address, cardholder billing address,cardholder email address, cardholder phone number, merchant name,merchant category, merchant location, and/or at least oneenvironment-related variable (e.g., device details, browser details)including device ID, IP address, device channel, etc. Further, the LTVmay be stored in a database accessible by the RBA engine and operated bythe interchange network. In some embodiments, the LTV data will behashed prior to storing to protect the security of this personallyidentifiable information.

In addition, the data in the AReq message may also be compared to otherparameters. For example, to monitor consistency and changes in behavior,the data may be compared to short term variables (e.g., on the order ofminutes, hours, or days), including velocities and ratios of PANauthorization and authentication. This may include comparing to recenttransaction frequency, amount spent, declines, historical risk scores,etc. Alternatively, the data in the AReq message may be analyzed usingany suitable techniques to generate RBA result data, as describedherein.

In the example embodiment, the RBA result data generated by the RBAengine includes a risk score, a risk analysis, and at least one reasoncode. The risk score is a score representing a determined riskiness ofthe transaction, with lower scores indicating lower risk and higherscores indicating higher risk. In other words, the risk score representsa likelihood that the suspect cardholder (e.g., the person attempting toperform a transaction) is the legitimate cardholder having theprivileges to use the payment card to perform a payment transaction. Forexample, the risk score may be represented by a number from 0-999 and/orby a risk threshold category from 0-19. In some embodiments, risksassessments that will be shared, such as through the authorization fieldof one or more messages will be quantified on a scale of 0-9. Those ofskill in the art will appreciate that any suitable risk score may beused.

The risk analysis is a description of a level of risk corresponding tothe risk score (e.g., low risk, medium risk, or high risk). Further thereason codes include one or more factors that influenced the risk score.In some embodiments, the reason codes are generated using reason codecategories and anchors, as described herein. In some embodiments, thereason codes are affected by rules and/or a combination of the rules andthe model. The RBA engine transmits the RBA result data to theRBA-enabled directory server.

The RBA-enabled directory server embeds the RBA result data into theAReq message to generate an enhanced or enriched AReq message. Forexample, in some embodiments, the RBA result data is appended to theAReq message as an extensible markup language (XML) extension of theAReq message. For example, the extension may have the following format:

“name”: “ACS RBA”, “id”: “A000000004-acsRBA”, “criticalityIndicator”:“true”, “data”: {    “status”:“success”,    “score”:“150”,   “decision”:“low risk”,    “reasonCode1”:“Y”,    “reasonCode2”:“J”}where “score” is the risk score, “decision” is the risk analysis, and“reasonCode1” and “reasonCode2” are the reason codes. In the exemplaryembodiment, the reason codes are transmitted as a single letter each. Inother embodiments, the reason codes may be represented in differentmethods. In some embodiments, reasonCode2 is transmitted by the merchantto provide the merchant's assessment of the transaction. Alternatively,the RBA result data may be embedded into the AReq message to generate anenhanced or enriched AReq message using any suitable process.

The enhanced AReq message is then transmitted from the RBA-enableddirectory server to the ACS. The ACS then analyzes the RBA result datain the enhanced AReq message to make an authentication decision. Thatis, in the example embodiment, the ACS may determine to fullyauthenticate the transaction, deny authentication for the transaction,or perform additional authentication (e.g., by issuing a step-upchallenge to the cardholder) for the transaction, based on at least oneof a risk score, the risk analysis, and the reason codes. Accordingly,the ACS does not perform the RBA analysis, but is still able to leveragethe results of that analysis to make an authentication decision (e.g.,by using the results in their own fraud analysis platform), generallyresulting in more approvals with less fraud. Thus, the RBA-enableddirectory server and the RBA engine perform the RBA analysis on behalfof the ACS. In some embodiments, the ACS receives authentication datafrom a plurality of sources.

The 3DS 2 Protocol (and subsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol)provides a number of benefits to cardholders, issuers, and merchants. Itreduces risk of unauthorized transactions through an approach thatincorporates a rich, comprehensive set of data to make authenticationdecisions. For cardholders, it provides a simple, secure, and familiaronline authentication experience, regardless of payment channel ordevice. For issuers, it allows for “frictionless” authentication, inwhich an explicit cardholder step-up authentication is not required orperformed. This enables more intelligent risk assessment decisions andthe ability to selectively challenge the cardholder as needed. This alsoimproves cardholder experience and overall cardholder loyalty toissuers. For merchants, the 3DS 2 Protocol decreases fraud on allauthenticated transactions, and increases revenue potential from reducedfriction and reduced cart abandonment (i.e., cardholders deciding not tocomplete a transaction after they have already selected one or moreitems to be purchased), especially for mobile payment channels. Thisalso improves cardholder experience and overall cardholder loyalty tomerchants. The 3DS 2 Protocol and RBA may support additional paymentchannels, such as, but not limited to, card-on-file, wallet, mobile,in-app, and Internet of Things (IoT).

Using 3DS 2 Protocol (or subsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol),payment networks see 100% of all authentication requests globally on allcards on their brands. No other party, including issuers and ACSproviders, is able to provide this global visibility. This globalvisibility may be leveraged to provide a consistent, standards-basedrisk analysis of transactions on behalf of issuers, enabling amarket-wide risk-based authentication approach.

As compared to previous authentication methods (e.g., 3DS 1.0), the 3DS2 Protocol (and subsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol) allows forapproximately ten times the amount of transaction data to be gathered,analyzed, and utilized to prevent fraud. The additional data included inthe 3DS Protocol increases data exchange between merchants and issuers,and improves risk-based authentication (RBA) decisioning. RBA allowsissuers to examine every authentication request through transaction riskanalysis, while focusing fraud prevention efforts on transactions thatprevent the most risk. Further, RBA utilizes both behavioral andtransactional inputs in conjunction with a risk engine to determineriskiness of a transaction. The RBA method of cardholder authenticationdynamically calculates a risk assessment for any given e-commercetransaction in real time. The assessment can then be used toauthenticate the cardholder in a frictionless manner.

The RBA methodology includes three components that work together toprovide authentication of cardholders. First, the underlying data modelis used to provide a basis for the authentication. The underlying datamodel may include 3DS data, which may include cardholder data,behavioral data, location data, merchant data, and device data. Theunderlying data model may also include interchange network data, suchas, but not limited to, past risk scores, authentication approvals,authorization history, chargeback data, and fraud data.

The RBA methodology may use in the underlying data model in one or moremeasurement methodologies. The measurement methodologies may includeshort term velocities and ratios, including measuring behaviorconsistency and changes, such as frequency, amount spent, time,location, and device. The measurement methodologies may also includelong term velocities and ratios, which include measurement of behaviorand anomaly detection. The measurement methodologies may further includecontinuous measurement across the payment network.

The RBA methodology may then use the underlying data model and themeasurement methodology in a rules engine. The rules engine may includethresholds for interpreting measurement results, rules for combiningresults of measurements, and rules for combining other data with modelsand measurements.

Transactions deemed safe or low risk are silently authenticated (i.e.,so-called “frictionless” authentication), while higher risk transactionsare subjected to step-up authentication. When a low risk transaction issilently authenticated, so much data has already been gathered thatfurther authentication adds little to no value. Accordingly, RBAeffectively replaces the need for an explicit interaction with thecardholder for every transaction, but transactions are still fullyauthenticated, with liability resting with the issuer. Thus, moretransactions are completed with minimal cardholder disruption, aidinge-commerce growth.

An example of a safe (or low-risk) transaction may include, where thecardholder has a positive transaction history, is performing thetransaction with a known device with a positive association with thecardholder, the cardholder is in a typical geolocation, the device isusing a typical IP address, the transaction fits within a typicalbehavioral and transaction pattern, and the shipping address has beenused with the payment account number (PAN) and is the same as the lasttransaction. The cardholder buys a present to be delivered to his house.An example of a medium risk transaction may include, where thecardholder has a positive transaction history, is using an unknowndevice with no known association with the cardholder, the device is at anon-typical geolocation and IP address, but is typical behavioral,cardholder, and transaction pattern. For example, the cardholder is ontravel and purchases Internet Access at a hotel. An example of a highrisk transaction may include, where there are anomalous velocitiesdetected with the cardholder in network, is using an unknown device withno known association with the cardholder, the device is at a non-typicalgeolocation and IP address, and there is anomalous behavior patternsdetected. The cardholder purchases over $600 of clothing in Texas rightafter the cardholder purchased lunch in St. Louis.

One goal of RBA is to minimize the number of transactions that requireactive (i.e., step-up) authentication, while keeping fraud to a minimumand improving consumer friction points during the transaction process.The goal of RBA is to silently eliminate unnecessary friction on lowrisk transactions. Approximately 90% of transactions are deemed low riskand would then be authenticated without any action and would proceed tothe Authorization process. This greatly decreases the amount ofprocessing and message traffic necessary to authenticate transactions.5-8% of transactions would be considered medium risk and the cardholderwould be asked to authenticate themselves, such as through a step-upchallenge. Then 1-2% of transactions would be deemed high risk and wouldfail authentication. With RBA, the information gathered enablestransaction scoring and classification into low, medium, and high risk,allowing the issuer and ACS to take appropriate action.

The 3DS 2 Protocol (and subsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol) enablesa market-wide level risk analysis of all transactions that reachdirectory server 510. Each transaction can be scored and/or flaggedbased on the global data available using the 3DS 2 Protocol (andsubsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol). Additionally, the paymentprocessor operating the directory server 510 has the ability to seecardholder activity across the digital and physical domains, and canutilize this expanded view to improve scoring. In contrast, traditionalauthentication service providers may only address the digital domain.For example, a payment processor could indicate if a particular deviceis associated with fraud, and flag that device for issuers in futuretransactions. The issuer may then reject transactions involving thatdevice or prompt for additional authentication (e.g., through two-factorauthentication).

The following Table 1 lists a number of the data elements that are usedin the 3DS 2 Protocol for authentication. For example, at least some ofthese data elements may be included in the authentication data includedin the AReq sent to directory server 510. The eighteen data elementsthat are also part of the 3DS 1.0 Protocol are bolded in Table 1. Thoseof skill in the art will appreciate that the number of rich dataelements could grow beyond those listed below (e.g., in future versionsof the 3DS Protocol), and could include over one hundred and seventydata elements. Further, an app-based transaction (e.g., carried outusing a mobile computing device) could provide even more data elementsthan browser-based transactions. In addition, a transaction performedusing an Android device could have over one hundred and thirtyadditional elements. The authentication data may also be divided bycategory, such as: transaction data (amount, currency, date, and time),device data (IP address, device info, and channel data), cardholder data(account number and shipping address), and merchant data (name,category, and country).

TABLE 1 Data Element 1 3DS Requestor Authentication Information 2 3DSRequestor Challenge Indicator 3 3DS Requestor ID 4 3DS RequestorInitiated Indicator 5 3DS Requestor Name 6 3DS Requestor Non-PaymentAuthentication Indicator 7 3DS Requestor Prior TransactionAuthentication Information 8 3DS Requestor URL 9 3DS Server Operator ID10 3DS Server Reference Number 11 3DS Server Transaction ID 12 3DSServer URL 13 Account Type 14 Acquirer BIN 15 Acquirer Merchant ID 16ACS Challenge Mandated Indicator 17 ACS Counter ACS to SDK 18 ACS HTML19 ACS Operator ID 20 ACS Reference Number 21 ACS Rendering Type 22 ACSSigned Content 23 ACS Transaction ID 24 ACS UI Type 25 Address MatchIndicator 26 Authentication Method 27 Authentication Type 28Authentication Value 29 Browser Accept Headers 30 Browser IP Address 31Browser Java Enabled 32 Browser Language 33 Browser Screen Color Depth34 Browser Screen Height 35 Browser Screen Width 36 Browser Time Zone 37Browser User-Agent 38 Card/Token Expiry Date 39 Cardholder AccountIdentifier 40 Cardholder Account Information 41 Cardholder AccountNumber 42 Cardholder Billing Address City 43 Cardholder Billing AddressCountry 44 Cardholder Billing Address Line 1 45 Cardholder BillingAddress Line 2 46 Cardholder Billing Address Line 3 47 CardholderBilling Address Postal Code 48 Cardholder Billing Address State 49Cardholder Email Address 50 Cardholder Home Phone Number 51 CardholderMobile Phone Number 52 Cardholder Name 53 Cardholder Shipping AddressCity 54 Cardholder Shipping Address Country 55 Cardholder ShippingAddress Line 1 56 Cardholder Shipping Address Line 2 57 CardholderShipping Address Line 3 58 Cardholder Shipping Address Postal Code 59Cardholder Shipping Address State 60 Cardholder Work Phone Number 61Challenge Additional Information Text 62 Challenge Cancelation Indicator63 Challenge Data Entry 64 Challenge HTML Data Entry 65 ChallengeInformation Header 66 Challenge Information Label 67 ChallengeInformation Text 68 Challenge Information Text Indicator 69 ChallengeSelection Information 70 Challenge Window Size 71 Device Channel 72Device Information 73 Device Rendering Options Supported 74 DS ReferenceNumber 75 DS Transaction ID 76 DS URL 77 Electronic Commerce Indicator78 EMV Payment Token Indicator 79 Expandable Information Label 1 80Expandable Information Text 1 81 Instalment Payment Data 82 InteractionCounter 83 Issuer Image 84 Merchant Category Code 85 Merchant CountryCode 86 Merchant Name 87 Merchant Risk Indicator 88 Message Category 89Message Extension 90 Message Type 91 Message Version Number 92Notification URL 93 OOB App Label 94 OOB App URL 95 OOB ContinuationIndicator 96 OOB Continuation Label 97 Payment System Image 98 PurchaseAmount 99 Purchase Currency 100 Purchase Currency Exponent 101 PurchaseDate & Time 102 Recurring Expiry 103 Recurring Frequency 104 ResendChallenge Information Code 105 Resend Information Label 106 ResultsMessage Status 107 SDK App ID 108 SDK Counter SDK to ACS 109 SDKEncrypted Data 110 SDK Ephemeral Public Key (Qc) 111 SDK ReferenceNumber 112 SDK Transaction ID 113 Submit Authentication Label 114Transaction Status 115 Transaction Status Reason 116 Transaction Type117 Why Information Label 118 Why Information Text

In the example embodiment, transactions are categorized “merchant only”or “fully authenticated.” “Fully authenticated” transactions aregenerally considered to be low risk transactions that have beenauthenticated. “Merchant only” transactions are more risky transactions.In some embodiments, “merchant only” transactions have beenauthenticated. In the example embodiment, one or more indicators in theauthentication response indicate whether a transaction is “merchantonly” or “fully authenticated.” One or more indicators may also indicatewhether or not authentication was attempted on the transaction. Thisinformation is used by the merchant to determine whether or not to beginthe authorization process for the transaction. In some embodiments, thisinformation is also stored in a database and is referred to by at leastone of the interchange network and the issuer processor during theauthorization process.

In some further embodiments, the authentication platform determineswhether the authentication request message complies with the 3DS 2Protocol or subsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol. If theauthentication request message does not comply with the appropriate 3DSProtocols, the authentication platform bypasses determining if the ACSis available. In this situation, the authentication platform transmitsan authentication response message indicating that the transaction isconsidered merchant only and that no authentication was attempted.

In some embodiments, the authentication platform determines a risk levelbased on the RBA result data. If the risk level is low, theauthentication platform embeds an indicator in the authenticationresponse message indicating that the transaction is “fullyauthenticated.” If the risk level is not low, the authenticationplatform embeds one or more indicators in the authentication responsemessage indicating that the transaction is a merchant only transactionand that authentication was attempted.

In the example embodiment, the authentication platform performs theauthentication process on the transaction, including RBA. This analysisis based on a machine learning model where, over time, theauthentication platform is capable of improving its ability to determinethe risk level associated with transactions. The authentication platformanalyzes transactions that are authenticated by the ACS and comparesthese transactions with historical data to generate a risk model foreach issuer. By comparing the data points in each transaction, the riskmodel will indicate the amount of risk associated with each transactionbased on the authentication data in the corresponding authenticationrequests. This allows the authentication platform to analyzetransactions when the ACS is unavailable and perform authentication onthese transactions to provide a response to the authentication request.Accordingly, the authentication platform may determine that a receivedauthorization request is substantially similar to a previous transactionthat the ACS scored at low risk. Thus allowing the authenticationplatform to determine that the received transaction is low risk with adegree of certainty.

At least one of the technical problems addressed by this systemincludes: (i) high network load based at least in part on step-upchallenging most or all card-not-present transactions which results innetwork delays and reduced bandwidth; (ii) allowing fraudulenttransactions to be successfully processed if there is no step-upchallenge of a card-not-present transaction; (iii) consumerinconvenience during card-not-present transactions based at least inpart on having to answer an additional authentication challenge during atransaction; (iv) abandonment of transactions by consumers when facedwith a step-up challenge, thus leading to lost sales for merchants andlost processing fees for the other network parties based on thoseabandoned transactions; (v) unavailability of customizable fraud-relatedservices to merchants and/or merchant acquirers; (vi) increased riskwith merchant liability for fraudulent transactions; (vii) digitalwallet-related fraud; (viii) issuers having limited access to some datathat may be used to fraud-score transactions; (ix) reducing the networkload by reducing network traffic to and from the ACS; (x) increasing thespeed of the authentication process by reducing the number of stepsrequired; and (xi) reducing the processing load of the ACS bypre-filtering authentication requests to prevent redundant orunnecessary processing.

A technical effect of the systems and processes described herein isachieved by performing at least one of the following steps: (i)receiving, at a risk-based authentication enabled (RBA-enabled)directory server, an authentication request message, the authenticationrequest message including authentication data; (ii) extracting, usingthe RBA-enabled directory server, the authentication data from theauthentication request message; (iii) transmitting the extractedauthentication data to an RBA engine; (iv) generating, using the RBAengine, based at least in part on the extracted authentication data, RBAresult data including a risk score, a risk analysis, and at least onereason code; (v) transmitting the RBA result data to the RBA-enableddirectory server; (vi) embedding, using the RBA-enabled directoryserver, the RBA result data into the authentication request message togenerate an enhanced authentication request message; and (vii)transmitting the enhanced authentication request message to the ACS toenable the ACS to make an authentication decision based on the RBAresult data.

As will be appreciated, based on the description herein the technicalimprovement in the authentication system as described herein is acomputer-based solution to a technical deficiency or problem that isitself rooted in computer technology (e.g., the problem itself derivesfrom the use of computer technology). More specifically, fraud issignificant problem for transactions conducted over an electronicpayment network, especially for card-not-present transactions. Advancedfraud detection methodologies (e.g., RBA) exist, but at least some ACSsare unable to execute those methodologies and furthermore communicationwith ACSs increases network traffic and processing load. Accordingly, toaddress this problem, the systems and methods described herein addressthis technical problem by using an RBA-enabled directory server and RBAengine to perform RBA on behalf of an ACS and forward the results of theRBA to the ACS to enable the ACS to make an authentication decision.

The following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosurerefers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers indifferent drawings may identify the same or similar elements. Also, thefollowing detailed description does not limit the claims.

Described herein are computer systems such as authentication computersystems. As described herein, all such computer systems include aprocessor and a memory. However, any processor in a computer devicereferred to herein may also refer to one or more processors wherein theprocessor may be in one computing device or a plurality of computingdevices acting in parallel. Additionally, any memory in a computerdevice referred to herein may also refer to one or more memories whereinthe memories may be in one computing device or a plurality of computingdevices acting in parallel.

As used herein, a processor may include any programmable systemincluding systems using micro-controllers, reduced instruction setcircuits (RISC), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), logiccircuits, and any other circuit or processor capable of executing thefunctions described herein. The above examples are example only, and arethus not intended to limit in any way the definition and/or meaning ofthe term “processor.”

As used herein, the term “database” may refer to either a body of data,a relational database management system (RDBMS), or to both. As usedherein, a database may include any collection of data includinghierarchical databases, relational databases, flat file databases,object-relational databases, object oriented databases, and any otherstructured collection of records or data that is stored in a computersystem. The above examples are example only, and thus are not intendedto limit in any way the definition and/or meaning of the term database.Examples of RDBMS's include, but are not limited to including, Oracle®Database, MySQL, IBM® DB2, Microsoft® SQL Server, Sybase®, andPostgreSQL. However, any database may be used that enables the systemsand methods described herein. (Oracle is a registered trademark ofOracle Corporation, Redwood Shores, Calif.; IBM is a registeredtrademark of International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y.;Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation, Redmond,Wash.; and Sybase is a registered trademark of Sybase, Dublin, Calif.)

In one embodiment, a computer program is provided, and the program isembodied on a computer readable medium. In an example embodiment, thesystem is executed on a single computer system, without requiring aconnection to a sever computer. In a further embodiment, the system isbeing run in a Windows® environment (Windows is a registered trademarkof Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash.). In yet another embodiment,the system is run on a mainframe environment and a UNIX® serverenvironment (UNIX is a registered trademark of X/Open Company Limitedlocated in Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom). In a further embodiment,the system is run on an iOS® environment (iOS is a registered trademarkof Cisco Systems, Inc. located in San Jose, Calif.). In yet a furtherembodiment, the system is run on a Mac OS® environment (Mac OS is aregistered trademark of Apple Inc. located in Cupertino, Calif.). Instill yet a further embodiment, the system is run on Android® OS(Android is a registered trademark of Google, Inc. of Mountain View,Calif.). In another embodiment, the system is run on Linux® OS (Linux isa registered trademark of Linus Torvalds of Boston, Mass.). Theapplication is flexible and designed to run in various differentenvironments without compromising any major functionality. In someembodiments, the system includes multiple components distributed among aplurality of computing devices. One or more components may be in theform of computer-executable instructions embodied in a computer-readablemedium.

As used herein, an element or step recited in the singular and proceededwith the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding pluralelements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly recited.Furthermore, references to “example embodiment” or “one embodiment” ofthe present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excludingthe existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate therecited features.

As used herein, the terms “software” and “firmware” are interchangeable,and include any computer program stored in memory for execution by aprocessor, including RAM memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROMmemory, and non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) memory. The above memory types areexample only, and are thus not limiting as to the types of memory usablefor storage of a computer program.

As used herein, the terms “payment device,” “transaction card,”“financial transaction card,” and “payment card” refer to any suitabletransaction card, such as a credit card, a debit card, a prepaid card, acharge card, a membership card, a promotional card, a frequent flyercard, an identification card, a prepaid card, a gift card, and/or anyother device that may hold payment account information, such as mobilephones, Smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wearablecomputing devices, key fobs, and/or any other computing devices capableof providing account information. Moreover, these terms may refer topayments made directly from or using bank accounts, stored valuedaccounts, mobile wallets, etc., and accordingly are not limited tophysical devices but rather refer generally to payment credentials. Eachtype of payment device can be used as a method of payment for performinga transaction. In addition, consumer card account behavior can includebut is not limited to purchases, management activities (e.g., balancechecking), bill payments, achievement of targets (meeting accountbalance goals, paying bills on time), and/or product registrations(e.g., mobile application downloads).

The systems and processes are not limited to the specific embodimentsdescribed herein. In addition, components of each system and eachprocess can be practiced independent and separate from other componentsand processes described herein. Each component and process also can beused in combination with other assembly packages and processes.

The following detailed description illustrates embodiments of thedisclosure by way of example and not by way of limitation. It iscontemplated that the disclosure has general application toauthenticating users for transactions conducted over an electronicpayment network.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example RBA platform 34 incommunication with a multi-party payment card system 20 for processingpayment transactions in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure. FIG. 1 depicts a flow of data in a financial transactionthrough system 20. Embodiments described herein may relate to atransaction card system, such as a credit card payment system using theMASTERCARD® interchange network. The MASTERCARD® interchange network isa set of proprietary communications standards promulgated by MastercardInternational Incorporated® for the exchange of financial transactiondata and the settlement of funds between financial institutions that aremembers of Mastercard International Incorporated®. (MASTERCARD® is aregistered trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated located inPurchase, N.Y.).

In the exemplary transaction card system, a financial institution calledthe “issuer” issues a transaction card, such as a credit card, to aconsumer or cardholder 22, who uses the transaction card to tenderpayment for a purchase from a merchant 24. Cardholder 22 may purchasegoods and services (“products”) at merchant 24. Cardholder 22 may makesuch purchases using virtual forms of the transaction card and, morespecifically, by providing data related to the transaction card (e.g.,the transaction card number, expiration date, associated postal code,and security code) to initiate transactions. To accept payment with thetransaction card or virtual forms of the transaction card, merchant 24must normally establish an account with a financial institution that ispart of the financial payment system. This financial institution isusually called the “merchant bank,” the “acquiring bank,” or the“acquirer.” When cardholder 22 tenders payment for a purchase with atransaction card or virtual transaction card, merchant 24 requestsauthentication of the cardholder 22 and authorization from a merchantbank 26 for the amount of the purchase. The request may be performedover the telephone or electronically, but is usually performed throughthe use of a point-of-sale terminal, which reads cardholder's 22 accountinformation from a magnetic stripe, a chip, or embossed characters onthe transaction card and communicates electronically with thetransaction processing computers of merchant bank 26. Merchant 24receives cardholder's 22 account information as provided by cardholder22. Alternatively, merchant bank 26 may authorize a third party toperform transaction processing on its behalf. In this case, thepoint-of-sale terminal will be configured to communicate with the thirdparty. Such a third party is usually called a “merchant processor,” an“acquiring processor,” or a “third party processor.”

Using an interchange network 28, computers of merchant bank 26 ormerchant processor will communicate with computers of an issuer bank 30to determine whether the alleged cardholder is actually legitimatecardholder 22 (i.e., authentication), whether cardholder's 22 account 32is in good standing, and whether the purchase is covered by cardholder's22 available credit line. Based on these determinations, the requestsfor authentication and authorization will be declined or accepted.Authentication may be performed prior to authorization. If the requestsare accepted, an authorization code is issued to merchant 24.

In the exemplary embodiment, the payment card system 20 includes or isin communication with a risk-based authentication (RBA) server 34. Inthis embodiment, the RBA platform 34 provides enhanced meta-datacollection to capture information, including meta-data from the paymenttransactions processed by the payment card system 20. The RBA platform34 stores this meta-data to use to provide as historical data whenperforming an authentication process prior to performing anauthorization process. In the exemplary embodiment, the RBA platform 34may receive historical data from one or more of the acquirer bank 26,the interchange network 28, and the issuer bank 30. Examples of thisdata include one or more long term variables (“LTV”). The one or moreLTV may include historical authorization data associated with aplurality of PANs, other historical data associated with the pluralityof PANs, etc. The LTV may be associated with both card present and cardnot present historical transactions. For example, the LTV may includecardholder shipping address, cardholder billing address, cardholderemail address, cardholder phone number, merchant name, merchantcategory, merchant location, and/or at least one environment-relatedvariable (e.g., device details, browser details) including device ID, IPaddress, device channel, etc. Further, the LTV may be stored in adatabase accessible by RBA platform 34 and operated by an interchangenetwork 28. In some embodiments, the LTV data will be hashed prior tostoring to protect the security of this personally identifiableinformation.

When a request for authorization is accepted, the available credit lineof cardholder's 22 account 32 is decreased. Normally, a charge for apayment card transaction is not posted immediately to cardholder's 22account 32 because bankcard associations, such as MastercardInternational Incorporated®, have promulgated rules that do not allowmerchant 24 to charge, or “capture,” a transaction until products areshipped or services are delivered. However, with respect to at leastsome debit card transactions, a charge may be posted at the time of thetransaction. When merchant 24 ships or delivers the products orservices, merchant 24 captures the transaction by, for example,appropriate data entry procedures on the point-of-sale terminal. Thismay include bundling of approved transactions daily for standard retailpurchases. If cardholder 22 cancels a transaction before it is captured,a “void” is generated. If cardholder 22 returns products after thetransaction has been captured, a “credit” is generated. Interchangenetwork 28 and/or issuer bank 30 stores the transaction cardinformation, such as a type of merchant, amount of purchase, date ofpurchase, in a database 120 (shown in FIG. 2).

After a purchase has been made, a clearing process occurs to transferadditional transaction data related to the purchase among the parties tothe transaction, such as merchant bank 26, interchange network 28, andissuer bank 30. More specifically, during and/or after the clearingprocess, additional data, such as a time of purchase, a merchant name, atype of merchant, purchase information, cardholder account information,a type of transaction, information regarding the purchased item and/orservice, and/or other suitable information, is associated with atransaction and transmitted between parties to the transaction astransaction data, and may be stored by any of the parties to thetransaction. After a transaction is authorized and cleared, thetransaction is settled among merchant 24, merchant bank 26, and issuerbank 30. Settlement refers to the transfer of financial data or fundsamong merchant's 24 account, merchant bank 26, and issuer bank 30related to the transaction. Usually, transactions are captured andaccumulated into a “batch,” which is settled as a group. Morespecifically, a transaction may be settled between issuer bank 30 andinterchange network 28, and then between interchange network 28 andmerchant bank 26, and then between merchant bank 26 and merchant 24.

As described below in more detail, risk-based authentication (RBA) maybe performed by the RBA platform 34 on behalf of an access controlserver (ACS) or issuer bank 30 in the context of multi-party paymentcard system 20. Although the systems described herein are not intendedto be limited to facilitate such applications, the systems are describedas such for example purposes.

FIG. 2 is an expanded block diagram of an example embodiment of acomputer system 100 used in authenticating payment transactions. In theexemplary embodiment, system 100 may be used for authenticating paymenttransactions either in concert with an ACS or in place of the ACS.

In the exemplary embodiment, cardholder computing devices 102 arecomputers that include a web browser or a software application, whichenables cardholder computing devices 102 to access remote computerdevices, such as merchant website 104, using the Internet or othernetwork. More specifically, cardholder computing devices 102 may becommunicatively coupled to the Internet through many interfacesincluding, but not limited to, at least one of a network, such as theInternet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or anintegrated services digital network (ISDN), a dial-up-connection, adigital subscriber line (DSL), a cellular phone connection, and a cablemodem. Cardholder computing devices 102 may be any device capable ofaccessing the Internet including, but not limited to, a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), acellular phone, a smartphone, a tablet, a phablet, wearable electronics,smart watch, or other web-based connectable equipment or mobile devices.In the exemplary embodiment, cardholder computing devices 102 areassociated with individual cardholders 22 (shown in FIG. 1).

In the exemplary embodiment, merchant website 104 is an online shoppingwebsite that is reachable through computers that include a web browseror a software application, such as cardholder computing devices 102,using the Internet or other network. More specifically, merchant website104 may be hosted on one or more computers that are communicativelycoupled to the Internet through many interfaces including, but notlimited to, at least one of a network, such as the Internet, a localarea network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or an integrated servicesdigital network (ISDN), a dial-up-connection, a digital subscriber line(DSL), a cellular phone connection, and a cable modem. Computing deviceshosting merchant website 104 may be any device capable of accessing theInternet including, but not limited to, a desktop computer, a laptopcomputer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular phone, asmartphone, a tablet, a phablet, wearable electronics, smart watch, orother web-based connectable equipment or mobile devices. In theexemplary embodiment, merchant website 104 is associated with merchant24 (shown in FIG. 1). In the exemplary embodiment, merchant website 104allows cardholder 22 to purchase goods and/or services using cardholdercomputing device 102. In some embodiments, payment transactionsperformed through merchant website 104 are considered card not presenttransactions.

In the exemplary embodiment, data gathering computer devices 106 arecomputers that include a web browser or a software application, whichenables data gathering computer devices 106 to access remote computerdevices, such as merchant website 104 and authentication server 112,using the Internet or other network. More specifically, data gatheringcomputing devices 106 may be communicatively coupled to the Internetthrough many interfaces including, but not limited to, at least one of anetwork, such as the Internet, a local area network (LAN), a wide areanetwork (WAN), or an integrated services digital network (ISDN), adial-up-connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL), a cellular phoneconnection, and a cable modem. Data gathering computer devices 106 maybe any device capable of accessing the Internet including, but notlimited to, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a tablet, a phablet,wearable electronics, smart watch, or other web-based connectableequipment or mobile devices. In some embodiments, the data gatheringcomputer devices 106 are associated with a 3DS server or service. Inother embodiments, data gathering computer devices 106 are associatedwith acquirer bank 26 (shown in FIG. 1).

In the exemplary embodiments, authentication server 112 is incommunication with a plurality of data gathering computer devices 106and one or more access control servers (ACS) 108. In some embodiments,authentication server 112 is similar to RBA platform 34 (shown in FIG.1). In the exemplary embodiment, authentication server 112 receives datafrom data gathering computer device 106 and uses that data to performauthentication of payment transactions. In some embodiments,authentication server 112 performs authentication with ACS 108. In otherembodiments, authentication server 112 replaces the ACS 108 in theauthentication process. In the exemplary embodiment, authenticationserver 112 is associated with the interchange network 28 (shown in FIG.1). In other embodiments, the authentication server 112 is merely incommunication with the interchange network 28.

In the exemplary embodiment, issuer computing devices 110 are computersthat include a web browser or a software application, which enablesissuer computing devices 110 to access remote computer devices, such asACS 108 and authentication server 112, using the Internet or othernetwork. More specifically, issuer computing devices 110 may becommunicatively coupled to the Internet through many interfacesincluding, but not limited to, at least one of a network, such as theInternet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or anintegrated services digital network (ISDN), a dial-up-connection, adigital subscriber line (DSL), a cellular phone connection, and a cablemodem. Issuer computing devices 110 may be any device capable ofaccessing the Internet including, but not limited to, a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), acellular phone, a smartphone, a tablet, a phablet, wearable electronics,smart watch, or other web-based connectable equipment or mobile devices.In the exemplary embodiment, issuer computing devices 110 are associatedwith the issuer bank 30 (shown in FIG. 1).

A database server 116 is connected to database 120. In one embodiment,centralized database 120 is stored on server system 112 and can beaccessed by potential users at one of client systems (not shown) bylogging onto authentication server 112 through one of client systems. Inan alternative embodiment, database 120 is stored remotely fromauthentication server 112 and may be non-centralized. Database 120 maybe a database configured to store information used by authenticationserver 112 including, for example, historical payment transactionrecords.

Database 120 may include a single database having separated sections orpartitions, or may include multiple databases, each being separate fromeach other. Database 120 may store transaction data generated over theprocessing network including data relating to merchants, consumers,account holders, prospective customers, issuers, acquirers, and/orpurchases made. Database 120 may also store account data including atleast one of a cardholder name, a cardholder address, an account number,other account identifiers, and transaction information. Database 120 mayalso store merchant information including a merchant identifier thatidentifies each merchant registered to use the network, and instructionsfor settling transactions including merchant bank account information.Database 120 may also store purchase data associated with items beingpurchased by a cardholder from a merchant, and authentication andauthorization request data. Database 120 may store one or moreauthentication profiles, where each authentication profile includes oneor more authentication rules, one or more risk level thresholds, and oneor more routing rules based on the risk level thresholds.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example configuration of a server system 301 suchas RBA platform 34 (shown in FIG. 1), in accordance with one exampleembodiment of the present disclosure. Server system 301 may alsoinclude, but is not limited to, merchant website 104, data gatheringcomputer device 106, ACS 108, issuer computing device 110,authentication server 112, and database server 116 (all shown in FIG.2). In the example embodiment, server system 301 determines and analyzescharacteristics of devices used in payment transactions, as describedbelow.

Server system 301 includes a processor 305 for executing instructions.Instructions may be stored in a memory area 310, for example. Processor305 may include one or more processing units (e.g., in a multi-coreconfiguration) for executing instructions. The instructions may beexecuted within a variety of different operating systems on the serversystem 301, such as UNIX, LINUX, Microsoft Windows®, etc. It should alsobe appreciated that upon initiation of a computer-based method, variousinstructions may be executed during initialization. Some operations maybe required in order to perform one or more processes described herein,while other operations may be more general and/or specific to aparticular programming language (e.g., C, C#, C++, Java, or othersuitable programming languages, etc.).

Processor 305 is operatively coupled to a communication interface 315such that server system 301 is capable of communicating with a remotedevice such as a user system or another server system 301. For example,communication interface 315 may receive requests from a client system(not shown) via the Internet, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

Processor 305 may also be operatively coupled to a storage device 334.Storage device 334 is any computer-operated hardware suitable forstoring and/or retrieving data. In some embodiments, storage device 334is integrated in server system 301. For example, server system 301 mayinclude one or more hard disk drives as storage device 334. In otherembodiments, storage device 334 is external to server system 301 and maybe accessed by a plurality of server systems 301. For example, storagedevice 334 may include multiple storage units such as hard disks orsolid state disks in a redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID)configuration. Storage device 334 may include a storage area network(SAN) and/or a network attached storage (NAS) system.

In some embodiments, processor 305 is operatively coupled to storagedevice 334 via a storage interface 320. Storage interface 320 is anycomponent capable of providing processor 305 with access to storagedevice 334. Storage interface 320 may include, for example, an AdvancedTechnology Attachment (ATA) adapter, a Serial ATA (SATA) adapter, aSmall Computer System Interface (SCSI) adapter, a RAID controller, a SANadapter, a network adapter, and/or any component providing processor 305with access to storage device 334.

Memory area 310 may include, but are not limited to, random accessmemory (RAM) such as dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), andnon-volatile RAM (NVRAM). The above memory types are examples only, andare thus not limiting as to the types of memory usable for storage of acomputer program.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example configuration of a client computing device402. Client computing device 402 may include, but is not limited to,cardholder computing device 102 (shown in FIG. 1). Client computingdevice 402 includes a processor 404 for executing instructions. In someembodiments, executable instructions are stored in a memory area 406.Processor 404 may include one or more processing units (e.g., in amulti-core configuration). Memory area 406 is any device allowinginformation such as executable instructions and/or other data to bestored and retrieved. Memory area 406 may include one or morecomputer-readable media.

Client computing device 402 also includes at least one media outputcomponent 408 for presenting information to a user 400. Media outputcomponent 408 is any component capable of conveying information to user400. In some embodiments, media output component 408 includes an outputadapter such as a video adapter and/or an audio adapter. An outputadapter is operatively coupled to processor 404 and operativelycouplable to an output device such as a display device (e.g., a liquidcrystal display (LCD), organic light emitting diode (OLED) display,cathode ray tube (CRT), or “electronic ink” display) or an audio outputdevice (e.g., a speaker or headphones).

In some embodiments, client computing device 402 includes an inputdevice 410 for receiving input from user 400. Input device 410 mayinclude, for example, a keyboard, a pointing device, a mouse, a stylus,a touch sensitive panel (e.g., a touch pad or a touch screen), a camera,a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a position detector, and/or an audioinput device. A single component such as a touch screen may function asboth an output device of media output component 408 and input device410.

Client computing device 402 may also include a communication interface412, which is communicatively couplable to a remote device such asserver system 301 or a web server operated by a merchant. Communicationinterface 412 may include, for example, a wired or wireless networkadapter or a wireless data transceiver for use with a mobile phonenetwork (e.g., Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), 3G, 4G orBluetooth) or other mobile data network (e.g., WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WIMAX)).

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating transaction flow in anexample authentication system 500 that uses the 3DS 2 Protocol (orsubsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol) for authentication. Informationregarding the 3DS Protocol, including the current version of theprotocol, can be found at https://www.emvco.com. System 500 includes adirectory server 510 that facilitates authenticating a cardholder for atransaction, as described herein. Directory server 510 may be operated,for example, by interchange network 28 (shown in FIG. 1).

A cardholder (e.g., cardholder 22, shown in FIG. 1) initiates atransaction (e.g., an online transaction) on a cardholder computingdevice 102 (shown in FIG. 2), such as, for example, a mobile computingdevice. During initiation of the transaction, the cardholder providesauthentication data that will ultimately be used to authenticate thecardholder. In the exemplary embodiment, this authentication dataincludes form data that the cardholder fills in to make the purchase andscraped data, which is data about the cardholder, such as device detailsand browser details including device ID, IP address, device channel,etc.

The authentication data is transmitted from the cardholder computingdevice 102 to a 3DS client 502 within a 3DS requestor environment 504.The 3DS client 502 may be operated by a merchant (e.g., merchant 24,shown in FIG. 1). In some embodiments, 3DS client 502 is a part ofmerchant website 104 (shown in FIG. 2). 3DS client 502 collects, fromthe cardholder computing device 102, information necessary toauthenticate the cardholder using the 3DS 2 Protocol, including theauthentication data.

The 3DS client 502 collects information (including the authenticationdata) and transmits the collected information to a 3DS server 506 forinclusion in an authentication request message, also referred to hereinas an AReq message. 3DS client 502 is also part of the 3DS requestorenvironment 504. 3DS client 502 and 3DS server 506 may communicate withone another, for example, using application programming interfaces(APIs) or browser interactions. In some embodiments, the 3DS server 506is similar to data gathering computer device 106 (shown in FIG. 2).

Using the authentication data provided by the cardholder and other datacollected within 3DS requestor environment 504, the 3DS server 506generates the AReq message and transmits the AReq message to directoryserver 510, based on the payment processor associated with thetransaction card being used in the transaction. In some embodiments, thedirectory server 510 is similar to the authentication server 112 (shownin FIG. 2). That is, different payment processors will generally havedifferent directory servers for processing transactions. When generatingthe AReq message, 3DS server 506 formats the data for security purposes.In this embodiment, directory server 510 forwards the AReq message to anappropriate access control server (ACS) 512, based on the issuer of thepayment card. In some embodiments, ACS 512 is similar to ACS 108 (shownin FIG. 2)

ACS 512 determines, based on the AReq message, whether authentication isrequired. Further, ACS 512 facilitates ensuring that any requiredauthentication is properly carried out. ACS 512 performs theseauthentication operations on behalf of an issuer operating an issuercomputing device 514.

In response to the AReq message, ACS 512 returns an authenticationresponse (ARes) message to directory server 510, which directory server510 in turn forwards to 3DS server 506. Before returning the AResmessage, ACS 512 evaluates the data in the AReq message and performsrisk-based authentication (RBA) on the transaction. Specifically, whenACS 512 determines that an explicit cardholder step-up authentication isnot required (i.e., when the transaction is determined to be low risk),ACS 512 determines authentication is complete and returns an AResindicating the same. If, however, ACS 512 determines that cardholderstep-up authentication is required, ACS 512 initiates a step-upchallenge request. The results of the step-up challenge requests aretransmitted (in the ARes message), to 3DS server 506 (via directoryserver 510), and ultimately to the cardholder. If step-up authenticationis required, ACS 512 controls the step-up authentication in accordancewith methods used for cardholders of the issuer (e.g., biometricauthentication, one time password (OTP) authentication, short messageservice (SMS) authentication, etc.). A 3DS requestor 516 included in 3DSrequestor environment 504 controls how the various components interactwith one another in the example embodiment.

After the authentication process is complete (i.e., after the 3DSProtocol is finished), if the cardholder is successfully authenticated,payment authorization for the transaction is undertaken. That is, theauthentication using the 3DS 2 Protocol (or subsequent versions of the3DS Protocol) occurs before payment authorization for the transaction.

For payment authorization, the merchant (e.g., using 3DS server 506)exchanges authorization data with an acquirer computing device 520operated by an acquirer, such as merchant bank 26 (shown in FIG. 1) anda payment network 522, such as interchange network 28 (shown in FIG. 1).If appropriate, the merchant, acquirer, or payment network may submit anauthorization request including information that indicatesauthentication occurred. Acquirer computing device 520 then processesthe authorization with issuer computing device 514 and returns theauthorization results to the merchant.

The 3DS 2 Protocol (and subsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol)provides a number of benefits to cardholders, issuers, and merchants. Itreduces risk of unauthorized transactions through an approach thatincorporates a rich, comprehensive set of data to make authenticationdecisions. For cardholders, it provides a simple, secure, and familiaronline authentication experience, regardless of payment channel ordevice. For issuers, it allows for “frictionless” authentication, inwhich an explicit cardholder step-up authentication is not required orperformed. This enables more intelligent risk assessment decisions andthe ability to selectively challenge the cardholder as needed. This alsoimproves cardholder experience and overall cardholder loyalty toissuers. For merchants, the 3DS 2 Protocol decreases fraud on allauthenticated transactions, and increases revenue potential from reducedfriction and reduced cart abandonment (i.e., cardholders deciding not tocomplete a transaction after they have already selected one or moreitems to be purchased), especially for mobile payment channels. Thisalso improves cardholder experience and overall cardholder loyalty tomerchants.

Using 3DS 2 Protocol (or subsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol),payment networks see 100% of all authentication requests globally on allcards on their brands. No other party, including issuers and ACSproviders, is able to provide this global visibility. This globalvisibility may be leveraged to provide a consistent, standards-basedrisk analysis of transactions on behalf of issuers, enabling amarket-wide risk-based authentication approach.

As compared to previous authentication methods (e.g., 3DS 1.0), the 3DS2 Protocol (and subsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol) allows forapproximately ten times the amount of transaction data to be gathered,analyzed, and utilized to prevent fraud. The additional data included inthe 3DS Protocol increases data exchange between merchants and issuers,and improves risk-based authentication (RBA) decisioning. RBA allowsissuers to examine every authentication request through transaction riskanalysis, while focusing fraud prevention efforts on transactions thatprevent the most risk. Further, RBA utilizes both behavioral andtransactional inputs in conjunction with a risk engine to determineriskiness of a transaction.

Transactions deemed safe or low risk are silently authenticated (i.e.,so-called “frictionless” authentication), while higher risk transactionsare subjected to step-up authentication. When a low risk transaction issilently authenticated, so much data has already been gathered thatfurther authentication adds little to no value. Accordingly, RBAeffectively replaces the need for an explicit interaction with thecardholder for every transaction, but transactions are still fullyauthenticated, with liability resting with the issuer. Thus, moretransactions are completed with minimal cardholder disruption, aidinge-commerce growth.

One goal of RBA is to minimize the number of transactions that requireactive (i.e., step-up) authentication, while keeping fraud to a minimumand improving consumer friction points during the transaction process.With RBA, the information gathered enables transaction scoring andclassification into low, medium, and high risk, allowing the issuer andACS 512 to take appropriate action.

The 3DS 2 Protocol (and subsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol) enablesa market-wide level risk analysis of all transactions that reachdirectory server 510. Each transaction can be scored and/or flaggedbased on the global data available using the 3DS 2 Protocol (andsubsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol). Additionally, the paymentprocessor operating the directory server 510 has the ability to seecardholder activity across the digital and physical domains, and canutilize this expanded view to improve scoring. In contrast, traditionalauthentication service providers may only address the digital domain.For example, a payment processor could indicate if a particular deviceis associated with fraud, and flag that device for issuers in futuretransactions. The issuer may then reject transactions involving thatdevice or prompt for additional authentication (e.g., through two-factorauthentication).

The following Table 2 lists a number of the data elements that are usedin the 3DS 2 Protocol for authentication. For example, at least some ofthese data elements may be included in the authentication data includedin the AReq sent to directory server 510. The eighteen data elementsthat are also part of the 3DS 1.0 Protocol are bolded in Table 2. Thoseof skill in the art will appreciate that the number of rich dataelements could grow beyond those listed below (e.g., in future versionsof the 3DS Protocol), and could include over one hundred and seventydata elements. Further, an app-based transaction (e.g., carried outusing a mobile computing device) could provide even more data elementsthan browser-based transactions. In addition, a transaction performedusing an Android device could have over one hundred and thirtyadditional elements.

TABLE 2 Data Element 1 3DS Requestor Authentication Information 2 3DSRequestor Challenge Indicator 3 3DS Requestor ID 4 3DS RequestorInitiated Indicator 5 3DS Requestor Name 6 3DS Requestor Non-PaymentAuthentication Indicator 7 3DS Requestor Prior TransactionAuthentication Information 8 3DS Requestor URL 9 3DS Server Operator ID10 3DS Server Reference Number 11 3DS Server Transaction ID 12 3DSServer URL 13 Account Type 14 Acquirer BIN 15 Acquirer Merchant ID 16ACS Challenge Mandated Indicator 17 ACS Counter ACS to SDK 18 ACS HTML19 ACS Operator ID 20 ACS Reference Number 21 ACS Rendering Type 22 ACSSigned Content 23 ACS Transaction ID 24 ACS UI Type 25 Address MatchIndicator 26 Authentication Method 27 Authentication Type 28Authentication Value 29 Browser Accept Headers 30 Browser IP Address 31Browser Java Enabled 32 Browser Language 33 Browser Screen Color Depth34 Browser Screen Height 35 Browser Screen Width 36 Browser Time Zone 37Browser User-Agent 38 Card/Token Expiry Date 39 Cardholder AccountIdentifier 40 Cardholder Account Information 41 Cardholder AccountNumber 42 Cardholder Billing Address City 43 Cardholder Billing AddressCountry 44 Cardholder Billing Address Line 1 45 Cardholder BillingAddress Line 2 46 Cardholder Billing Address Line 3 47 CardholderBilling Address Postal Code 48 Cardholder Billing Address State 49Cardholder Email Address 50 Cardholder Home Phone Number 51 CardholderMobile Phone Number 52 Cardholder Name 53 Cardholder Shipping AddressCity 54 Cardholder Shipping Address Country 55 Cardholder ShippingAddress Line 1 56 Cardholder Shipping Address Line 2 57 CardholderShipping Address Line 3 58 Cardholder Shipping Address Postal Code 59Cardholder Shipping Address State 60 Cardholder Work Phone Number 61Challenge Additional Information Text 62 Challenge Cancelation Indicator63 Challenge Data Entry 64 Challenge HTML Data Entry 65 ChallengeInformation Header 66 Challenge Information Label 67 ChallengeInformation Text 68 Challenge Information Text Indicator 69 ChallengeSelection Information 70 Challenge Window Size 71 Device Channel 72Device Information 73 Device Rendering Options Supported 74 DS ReferenceNumber 75 DS Transaction ID 76 DS URL 77 Electronic Commerce Indicator78 EMV Payment Token Indicator 79 Expandable Information Label 1 80Expandable Information Text 1 81 Instalment Payment Data 82 InteractionCounter 83 Issuer Image 84 Merchant Category Code 85 Merchant CountryCode 86 Merchant Name 87 Merchant Risk Indicator 88 Message Category 89Message Extension 90 Message Type 91 Message Version Number 92Notification URL 93 OOB App Label 94 OOB App URL 95 OOB ContinuationIndicator 96 OOB Continuation Label 97 Payment System Image 98 PurchaseAmount 99 Purchase Currency 100 Purchase Currency Exponent 101 PurchaseDate & Time 102 Recurring Expiry 103 Recurring Frequency 104 ResendChallenge Information Code 105 Resend Information Label 106 ResultsMessage Status 107 SDK App ID 108 SDK Counter SDK to ACS 109 SDKEncrypted Data 110 SDK Ephemeral Public Key (Qc) 111 SDK ReferenceNumber 112 SDK Transaction ID 113 Submit Authentication Label 114Transaction Status 115 Transaction Status Reason 116 Transaction Type117 Why Information Label 118 Why Information Text

As explained above, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, ACS 512 performsauthentication using RBA capabilities. However, many ACS providers thatare issuer processors for authentication do not have RBA capabilities.Further, ACS providers with RBA capabilities may temporarily lose thosecapabilities (e.g., due to equipment malfunction). In light of theabove-described advantages of the 3DS 2 Protocol (and subsequentversions of the 3DS Protocol), ACS providers without RBA capabilitiesrisk losing customers to other ACS providers that have this capability.Accordingly, it would be desirable to facilitate 3DS 2 Protocol (andsubsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol) authentication for ACSproviders that do not have RBA capabilities.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating transaction flow in anotherexample authentication system 600 that uses the 3DS 2 Protocol (orsubsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol) for authentication, and thatperforms RBA on behalf of ACS providers that are unable to perform RBA.Unless otherwise indicated, components of authentication system 600 aresubstantially similar to those of authentication system 500 (shown inFIG. 5).

Instead of directory server 510, authentication system 600 includes anRBA-enabled directory server 610 communicatively coupled to a RBA engine612 (which may be collectively referred to as an authentication platform614). RBA-enabled directory server 610 and RBA engine 612 facilitateperforming RBA behalf of ACS providers, as described herein. RBA-enableddirectory server 610 and RBA engine 612 may be operated, for example, byinterchange network 28 (shown in FIG. 1). In some embodiments,authentication platform 614 is similar to RBA platform 34 (shown inFIG. 1) and authentication server 112 (shown in FIG. 2).

As in authentication system 500, RBA-enabled directory server 610receives an AReq message from 3DS server 506. However, instead ofimmediately forwarding the AReq message to ACS 512, RBA-enableddirectory server 610 transmits at least some of the data in the AReqmessage (e.g., the authentication data) to RBA engine 612.

In the example embodiment, RBA engine 612 analyzes the data in the AReqmessage to generate RBA result data. For example, RBA engine 612 maycompare the data in the AReq message to one or more long term variables(“LTV”). The one or more LTV may include historical authentication dataassociated with the PAN at issue, historical authorization dataassociated with the PAN, other historical data associated with the PAN,etc. The LTV may be associated with both card present and card notpresent historical transactions. For example, the LTV may includecardholder shipping address, cardholder billing address, cardholderemail address, cardholder phone number, merchant name, merchantcategory, merchant location, and/or at least one environment-relatedvariable (e.g., device details, browser details) including device ID, IPaddress, device channel, etc. Further, the LTV may be stored in adatabase accessible by RBA engine 612 and operated by interchangenetwork 28. In some embodiments, the LTV data will be hashed prior tostoring to protect the security of this personally identifiableinformation.

In addition, the data in the AReq message may also be compared to otherparameters. For example, to monitor consistency and changes in behavior,the data may be compared to short term (e.g., on the order of minutes,hours, or days) PAN velocities and ratios, including velocities andratios of PAN authorization and authentication. This may includecomparing to recent transaction frequency, amount spent, declines,historical risk scores, etc. Alternatively, the data in the AReq messagemay be analyzed using any suitable techniques to generate RBA resultdata, as described herein.

In the example embodiment, the RBA result data generated by RBA engine612 includes a risk score, a risk analysis, and at least one reasoncode. The risk score is a score representing a determined riskiness ofthe transaction, with lower scores indicating lower risk and higherscores indicating higher risk. In other words, the risk score representsa likelihood that the suspect cardholder (e.g., the person attempting toperform a transaction) is the legitimate cardholder having theprivileges to use the payment card to perform a payment transaction. Forexample, the risk score may be represented by a number from 0-999 and/orby a risk threshold category from 0-19. In some embodiments, risksassessments that will be shared, such as through the authorization fieldof one or more messages will be quantified on a scale of 0-9. Those ofskill in the art will appreciate that any suitable risk score may beused.

The risk analysis is a description of a level of risk corresponding tothe risk score (e.g., low risk, medium risk, or high risk). Further thereason codes include one or more factors that influenced the risk score.RBA engine 612 transmits the RBA result data to RBA-enabled directoryserver 610.

In some embodiments, the reason codes are generated based on a pluralityof reason code categories and associated anchors. Specifically,different categories are established, and each category is associatedwith a plurality of activatable anchors, as described herein. Based onthe analysis of the data in the AReq message, RBA engine 612 mayactivate one or more anchors. The reason codes are then generated basedon which anchors (and how many anchors) are activated. In someembodiments, the reason codes are affected by rules and/or a combinationof the rules and the model.

For example, in one embodiment, three risk code categories areestablished: cardholder, merchant, and environment. In this example, thecardholder category is associated with five anchors (shipping address,PAN, billing address, email, and phone), the merchant category isassociated with three anchors (merchant name, merchant category, andmerchant country), and the environment category is associated with threeanchors (device info, IP address, and device channel). Those of skill inthe art will appreciate that additional and/or alternative anchors maybe established.

Based on analysis of the data in the AReq message, RBA engine 612 mayactivate at least one anchor. For example, for the cardholder category,if RBA engine 612 determines that a shipping address for the transactionhas been used with the PAN in past transactions and/or the shippingaddress is unchanged from prior transaction, RBA engine 612 may activatethe shipping address anchor. Further, RBA engine 612 may activate thePAN anchor of the cardholder category if the PAN has had successfulauthentications in past transactions.

For the merchant category, one or more anchors may be activated basedfraud rates for the merchant, decline rates for the merchant, andnon-cleared transaction rates for the merchant. Further, one or moreanchors may be activated when RBA engine 612 determines the merchantcategory and merchant location for the transaction are consistent withhistorical transactions for that merchant.

For the environment category, the IP address anchor may be activated ifthe IP address is known and is not on a list of “bad” IP addresses.Further, the device anchor may be activated if the device is known andis not on a list of “bad” devices, the device has had successfulauthentications in past transactions, and/or the device has scored wellin past transactions.

The following are some additional examples of criteria for activatinganchors for the different categories. In one example, the shippingaddress anchor is activated if the shipping address has been used withthe PAN in past transactions, the shipping address is the same as thebilling address on file, the shipping address is not on a list of “bad”shipping addresses, and the shipping address is unchanged from a priortransaction. In a second example, the shipping address anchor, thebilling address anchor, and the PAN anchor (i.e., all anchors for thecardholder category) are activated when the shipping address isconsistent with previous transactions, the billing address is consistentwith previous transactions, the PAN has historical positive associationwith the cardholder, and the purchase amount, date, and time areconsistent with previous transactions. In a third example, anchors forboth the cardholder category and the merchant category are activatedwhen the contact information for the cardholder is consistent withprevious transactions, the cardholder is a trusted cardholder, themerchant is a trusted merchant, and the PAN shows established activityand authentication history at the merchant. Those of skill in the artwill appreciate that the anchors may be activated based on any suitableconditions.

The reasons codes are generated based on the activated anchors, and areloosely structured in a hierarchical order based on connections betweenanchors in different categories. For example, if at least one anchor inthe cardholder category is activated, a positive reason code (i.e.,indicating relatively low risk) is generated. If, instead, at least oneanchor in the cardholder category is activated and at least one anchorin the merchant category is also activated, a stronger positive reasoncode related to both categories is generated. Similarly, if at least oneanchor in the cardholder category is activated, at least one anchor inthe merchant category is activated, and at least one anchor in theenvironment category is activated, an even stronger positive reason coderelated to all three categories is generated.

The following Table 3 lists of number of example reason codes. However,those of skill in the art will appreciate that additional and/oralternative reason codes may be utilized in accordance with theembodiments described herein.

TABLE 3 Code Reason Code Name Description and Comments A Risk Event -Suspicious Account Merchant or payment network has Activity detectedsuspicious activity with cardholder's account B Risk Event - UnknownMerchant or payment network has not Device/Account Relationshipestablished a relationship between the device and account C Risk Event -Device or Profile The device used for the transaction or Informationassociated with fraud the user's profile has been associated event witha fraud event D Risk Event - Recent High Risk The device used for thetransaction or Change to Device or Profile the user's profile hasrecently had a high Information risk change E Risk Event - Recent changeto Device The device used for the transaction or or Profile Informationthe user's profile has recently changed F Risk Event - PAN associatedwith Merchant or payment network has fraud event detected fraudassociated with the PAN used for this transaction G New Account orInsufficient Data This is a new account with the merchant (or newcardholder details to payment network) or there is insufficient data forthis cardholder H Merchant/Acquirer: Merchant (fraud) Payment networkhas determined that risk high (assessed by payment the merchant issubmitting transactions network) with a high rate of fraud IMerchant/Acquirer: Merchant (fraud) Payment network has determined thatrisk low (assessed by payment the merchant is submitting transactionsnetwork) with a higher rate of fraud than average J Environment:Good/Known IP Merchant or payment network is familiar with the IPaddress where the transaction is happening and has assessed that it is agood, trusted IP K Cardholder: Billing address - prior Merchant orpayment network has history established established a positiveassociation between the cardholder and this billing address LCardholder: Email address - prior Merchant or payment network hashistory established established a positive association between thecardholder and this email address. M Cardholder: Phone number - priorMerchant or payment network has history established established apositive association between the cardholder and this phone number. NCardholder: Shipping address - prior Merchant or payment network hashistory established established a positive association between thecardholder and this shipping address. O Cardholder: Card number (PAN)Merchant or payment network has behavior established high trust in theestablished high trust in the transaction current transaction based onhistorical PAN behavior P Environment: Device known Merchant or paymentnetwork has seen the device used for the transaction before, but thisaccount might not be established on device Q Environment: Accountestablished on Merchant or payment network has seen Device this accounttransaction on this device AND account has been authenticated on thedevice R Environment: Session - Merchant or payment networkTrusted/normal/innocent session (no determines quality of the sessionman in the middle attack/no bot, not suspicious account activity) S Morethan one cardholder category Merchant or payment network has anchorestablished established multiple cardholder category anchors T More thanone merchant category Payment network has established anchor establishedmultiple merchant category anchors U More than one environment categoryMerchant or payment network has anchor established established multipleenvironment category anchors V Co-occurring: established link Merchantor payment network has between cardholder and merchant establishedlinkages across cardholder and merchant categories W Co-occurring:established link Merchant or payment network has between cardholder andenvironment established linkages across cardholder and environmentcategories X Co-occurring: established link Payment network hasestablished between merchant and environment linkages across merchantand environment categories Y All three categories established Paymentnetwork has established linkages across cardholder, merchant, andenvironment categories Z Most Trusted (Reserved for future Reserved forfuture use use)

After RBA engine 612 generates the RBA result data (including the reasoncodes), RBA-enabled directory server 610 embeds the RBA result data intothe AReq message to generate an enhanced AReq message. For example, insome embodiments, the RBA result data is appended to the AReq message asan extensible markup language (XML) extension of the AReq message. Forexample, the extension may have the following format:

“name”: “ACS RBA”, “id”: “A000000004-acsRBA”, “criticalityIndicator”:“true”, “data”: {    “status”:“success”,    “score”:“150”,   “decision”:“low risk”,    “reasonCode1”:“Y”,    “reasonCode2”:“J”}

where “score” is the risk score, “decision” is the risk analysis, and“reasonCode1” and “reasonCode2” are the reason codes. In the exemplaryembodiment, the reason codes are transmitted as a single letter each. Inother embodiments, the reason codes may be represented in differentmethods. In some embodiments, reasonCode2 is transmitted by the merchantto provide the merchant's assessment of the transaction. Alternatively,the RBA result data may be embedded into the AReq message to generate anenhanced AReq message using any suitable process.

The enhanced AReq message is then transmitted from RBA-enabled directoryserver 610 to ACS 512. ACS 512 then analyzes the RBA result data in theenhanced AReq message to make an authentication decision. That is, inthe example embodiment, ACS 512 may determine to fully authenticate thetransaction, deny authentication for the transaction, or performadditional authentication (e.g., by issuing a step-up challenge to thecardholder) for the transaction, based on at least one of the riskscore, the risk analysis, and the reason codes. Accordingly, ACS 512does not perform the RBA analysis, but is still able to leverage theresults of that analysis to make an authentication decision (e.g., byusing the results in their own fraud analysis platform), generallyresulting in more approvals with less fraud. Thus, RBA-enabled directoryserver 610 and RBA engine 612 perform the RBA analysis on behalf of ACS512.

In some embodiments, when the determined riskiness of the transaction islow enough, instead of generating and transmitting an enhanced AReqmessage to ACS 512, RBA-enabled directory server 610 fully authenticatesthe transaction itself. Specifically, when the determined riskiness ofthe transaction is low enough, RBA-enabled directory server 610automatically generates an ARes that indicates the transaction has beenfully authenticated, and transmits the ARes message to 3DS server 506.RBA-enabled directory server 610 determines that the riskiness of thetransaction is low by comparing at least one of the risk score and therisk analysis to a predetermined threshold. The predetermined thresholdmay be specified, for example, by ACS 512. Accordingly ACS 512 is ableto control which transactions will be fully authenticated without alltransactions being forwarded to ACS 512.

Bypassing ACS 512 for low risk transactions reduces the overall messagevolume on the payment network. This in turn frees up network resources,improving transmission speed and overall capability of the paymentnetwork. Furthermore, in some embodiments, RBA-enabled directory server610 determines if ACS 512 is available. In some situations, ACS 512 maybe off-line or unavailable. If the ACS 512 is available, then theRBA-enabled directory server 610 may route the enhanced AReq messageincluding the RBA result data to the ACS 512. If the ACS 512 is notavailable, RBA-enabled directory server 610 may perform theauthentication processing.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an example method 700 for authenticating anonline user on behalf of an access control server (ACS). Method 700 maybe implemented, for example, using authentication platform 614 (shown inFIG. 6). Method 700 includes receiving 702 an authentication requestmessage, the authentication request message includes authenticationdata. Method 700 further includes extracting 704 the authentication datafrom the authentication request message. Method 700 further includes 706generating, based at least in part on the extracted authentication data,RBA result data including a risk score, a risk analysis, and at leastone reason code. In addition, method 700 includes embedding 708 the RBAresult data into the authentication request message to generate anenhanced authentication request message. Further, method 700 includestransmitting 710 the enhanced authentication request message to the ACSto enable the ACS to make an authentication decision based on the RBAresult data.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of another example method 800 forauthenticating an online user. Method 800 may be implemented, forexample, using authentication platform 614 (shown in FIG. 6).

In the example embodiment, authentication platform 614 receives 802 anauthentication request message including authentication data, asdescribed herein. Authentication platform 614 performs 804 RBA togenerate RBA result data including a risk score, a risk analysis, and atleast one reason code. The risk score is a score representing adetermined riskiness of the transaction, with lower scores indicatinglower risk and higher scores indicating higher risk. In other words, therisk score represents a likelihood that the suspect cardholder (e.g.,the person attempting to perform a transaction) is the legitimatecardholder having the privileges to use the payment card to perform apayment transaction. For example, the risk score may be represented by anumber from 0-999 and/or by a risk threshold category from 0-19. Therisk analysis is a description of a risk level corresponding to the riskscore (e.g., low risk, medium risk, or high risk). The reason codesinclude one or more factors that influenced the risk score.

In the example embodiment, authentication platform 614 compares the RBAresult data to a stored authentication profile. The authenticationprofile contains a plurality of rules for the processing ofauthentication requests. In some embodiments, the authentication profileis provided by the issuer computing device 514 (shown in FIG. 5).Examples of the rules include, but are not limited to, how to proceedwhen the ACS 512 (shown in FIG. 5) is unavailable, information toinclude in the RBA, risk level thresholds for the risk score and risklevels, decision making risk thresholds, and specialized rules (such asall cross-border transactions are to be submitted to the ACS 512). Theauthentication profile is stored at the RBA platform 34, and can beaccessed whenever a risk score is determined.

In the example embodiment, authentication platform 614 compares the RBAresult data to the authentication profile to determine the risk levelassociated with the transaction associated with the authenticationrequest. In some embodiments, authentication platform 614 compares therisk score to one or more thresholds in the authentication profile todetermine the risk level associated with the transaction. In otherembodiments, authentication platform 614 compares the risk analysis, thereason codes, and/or any other combination of data from the RBA resultdata and potentially some or all of the authentication data to theauthentication profile to determine the risk level associated with thistransaction. For example, a risk score of 900 or less may be consideredlow risk, a risk score between 900 and 980 may be considered mediumrisk, and a risk score above 980 may be considered high risk. Thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that any suitable risk scorethresholds and any number of risk levels may be used.

In the example embodiment, authentication platform 614 determines 806 ifthe risk level is high risk. For example, authentication platform 614may determine 806 that the transaction is clearly fraudulent. In whichcase, authentication platform 614 fails the authentication and denies808 the transaction. Authentication platform 614 transmits anauthentication response (ARes) message including the denial to 3DSserver 506 (shown in FIG. 5). The 3DS server 506 may transmit the Aresmessage including the denial to the merchant, where the merchantdetermines whether or not to proceed with the authorization process. Inthese embodiments, where the merchant begins the authorization processafter having received a denial, the transaction is considered to bemerchant only authentication, where the merchant assumes the risk forthe transaction.

When authentication platform 614 determines the transaction is clearlyfraudulent, authentication platform 614 denies the transaction withoutsending on authentication data (e.g., to the ACS and/or issuer).Specifically, authentication platform 614 fails the authentication andcommunicates the failure to the authentication requestor in the AResmessage. Based on this failure, the merchant should not then submit thetransaction for authorization, thus terminating the transaction.Accordingly, because the transaction is denied during authentication(and prior to authorization), no authorization messages are sent overthe payment processing network. This protects the security of thepayment processing network, because the payment processing network isnever exposed to authorization data associated with the fraudulenttransaction. Further, authentication platform 614 may notify the issuerand/or merchant that the transaction was clearly fraudulent, enablingthe issuer and/or merchant to take appropriate action (e.g., flaggingthe associated account number and/or cardholder).

Authentication platform 614 determines 810 if the transaction is mediumrisk or low risk. If the transaction is low risk, authenticationplatform 614 may approve 814 the transaction and transmit anauthentication response (ARes) message including the approval to 3DSserver 506, where at least one of the 3DS server 506 and the merchantmay initiate the authorization process. If the transaction is mediumrisk, authentication platform 614 may issue 812 a step-up challenge tothe cardholder 22 (shown in FIG. 1). Based on the results of the step-upchallenge, authentication platform 614 may approve or deny thetransaction. In some embodiments, if the transaction is medium risk,authentication platform 614 transmits the RBA result data to ACS 512, sothat the ACS 512 will perform the step-up challenge. In otherembodiments, authentication platform 614 may take different steps atdifferent risk levels and have additional or fewer risk levels toanalyze based on the authentication profile.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of another example method 900 forauthenticating an online user. Method 900 may be implemented, forexample, using authentication platform 614 (shown in FIG. 6). Method 900includes storing 902 an authentication profile. The authenticationprofile contains a plurality of rules for the processing ofauthentication requests. The method 900 also includes receiving 904 anauthentication request message, the authentication request messageincludes authentication data. Method 900 further includes extracting 906the authentication data from the authentication request message. Method900 further includes generating 908, based at least in part on theextracted authentication data, RBA result data including a risk score, arisk analysis, and at least one reason code. In addition, method 900includes routing 910 the RBA result data based on the authenticationprofile and the RBA result data.

In some embodiments, the authentication platform 614 transmits the RBAresult data to a source of the authentication request message, such asthe 3DS server 506 (shown in FIG. 5). For example, in some embodiments,a merchant operating the 3DS server 506 may request and receive the RBAresult data, including a risk score, a risk analysis, and at least onereason code as described herein. The merchant may use the RBA resultdata to update the merchant's own risk models, and may also compare theRBA result data to risk analysis results generated independently by themerchant to determine whether the RBA result data is generallyconsistent with the merchant-generated risk analysis results.

In some embodiments, the authentication request message is associatedwith an online payment card transaction. The authentication profile isassociated with an issuer bank 30 (shown in FIG. 1). And the source ofthe authentication request message is the issuer computing device 514(shown in FIG. 5). Accordingly, in some embodiments, the authenticationplatform 614 transmits the RBA result data directly to the issuercomputing device 514, and handles authentication with the issuercomputing device 514. For example, the issuer bank 30 may enroll a rangeof card numbers with the authentication platform 614, and request thatthe authentication platform 614 work directly with the issuer computingdevice 514 for authentication of transactions involving card numbers inthe enrolled range.

In some embodiments, the authentication platform 614 determines whetheran access control server (ACS) 512 (shown in FIG. 5) is available. Ifthe ACS 512 is available, the authentication platform 614 embeds the RBAresult data into the authentication request message to generate anenhanced authentication request message. The authentication platform 614transmits the enhanced authentication request message to the ACS 512 toenable the ACS 512 to make an authentication decision based on the RBAresult data. If the ACS 512 is unavailable, the authentication platform614 generates an authentication decision based on the RBA result dataand the authentication profile.

In some further embodiments, the authentication platform 614 determinesa risk level based on the RBA result data and the authenticationprofile. In some of these embodiments, the risk level includes at leasta low risk, a medium risk and a high risk for the transaction associatewith the authentication request. In these embodiments, theauthentication platform 614 transmits an authentication approval messageto the 3DS server 506, if the risk level is low.

If the risk medium, the authentication platform 614 transmits a step-upchallenge to the online user 22 (shown in FIG. 1) if the risk level ismedium. The authentication platform 614 receives a response to thestep-up challenge from the online user 22. The authentication platform614 determines an authentication decision based on the response to thestep-up challenge and the RBA result data. In some other embodiments, ifthe risk is medium, the authentication platform 614 transmits the RBAresult data to the ACS 512 if the risk level is medium. The ACS 512performs the step-up challenge with the online user 22.

If the risk is high, the authentication platform 614 transmits anauthentication denied message to the 3DS server 506.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a further example method 1000 forauthenticating an online user. Method 1000 may be implemented, forexample, using authentication platform 614 (shown in FIG. 6). Method1000 includes receiving 1002 an authentication request message for atransaction. The authentication request message includes authenticationdata. The method 1000 also includes extracting 1004 the authenticationdata from the authentication request message. The method 1000 furtherincludes determining 1006 if the ACS 512 is available to process thetransaction. If the ACS 512 is unavailable, the method includesgenerating 1008, based at least in part on the extracted authenticationdata, risk-based authentication (RBA) result data including a risk scoreand at least one reason code that indicates at least one factor thatinfluenced the generated risk score. If the ACS 512 is unavailable, themethod also includes transmitting 1010 an authentication responsemessage based on the RBA result data. In some embodiments, theauthentication platform 614 generates an authentication decision basedon the RBA result data and embeds the authentication decision in theauthentication response message.

In the example embodiment, transactions are categorized “merchant only”or “fully authenticated.” “Fully authenticated” transactions aregenerally considered to be low risk transactions that have beenauthenticated. “Merchant only” transactions are more risky transactions.In some embodiments, “merchant only” transactions have beenauthenticated. In the example embodiment, one or more indicators in theauthentication response indicate whether a transaction is “merchantonly” or “fully authenticated.” One or more indicators may also indicatewhether or not authentication was attempted on the transaction. Thisinformation is used by the merchant to determine whether or not to beginthe authorization process for the transaction. In some embodiments, thisinformation is also stored in the database 120 (shown in FIG. 2) and isreferred to by at least one of the interchange network 28 and the issuerbank 30 during the authorization process 20 (all shown in FIG. 1).

In the example embodiment, the authentication platform 614 performs theauthentication process on the transaction, including RBA. This analysisis based on a machine learning model where, over time, theauthentication platform 614 is capable of improving its ability todetermine the risk level associated with transactions. Theauthentication platform 614 analyzes transactions that are authenticatedby the ACS 512 and compares these transactions with historical data togenerate a risk model for each issuer bank 30. By comparing the datapoints in each transaction, the risk model will indicate the amount ofrisk associated with each transaction based on the authentication datain the corresponding authentication requests. This allows theauthentication platform 614 to analyze transactions when the ACS 512 isunavailable and perform authentication on these transactions to providea response to the authentication request. Accordingly, theauthentication platform 614 may determine that a received authorizationrequest is substantially similar to a previous transaction that the ACS512 scored at low risk. Thus allowing the authentication platform 614 todetermine that the received transaction is low risk with a degree ofcertainty.

In some embodiments, the authentication platform 614 determines whetheror not the ACS 512 available by transmitting the authentication requestmessage to the ACS 512. In these embodiments, the authenticationplatform 614 waits a predetermined period of time for a response fromthe ACS 512. The authentication platform 614 determines that the ACS 512is unavailable if no response is received from the ACS 512 after thepredetermined period of time. Alternatively, the authentication platform614 may receive a response from the ACS 512 that indicates that the ACS512 is unable to perform authentication. The response from the ACS 512may indicate that the online user is not enrolled with the ACS 512, thatthe ACS 512 is currently unavailable, or that the ACS 512 was unable toauthenticate the online user. This indication may be contained in theresponse message from the ACS 512. In other embodiments, theauthentication platform 614 may transmit periodic status check messagesto the ACS 512 to determine whether or not the ACS 512 is available.

In some embodiments, the authentication platform 614 determines that theonline user is not associated with the ACS 512 based on the extractedauthentication data. In these embodiments, the issuer associated withthe online user has not registered with an ACS 512. In theseembodiments, the authentication platform 614 generates an authenticationdecision based on the RBA result data.

In some further embodiments, the authentication platform 614 determineswhether the authentication request message complies with the 3DS 2Protocol or subsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol. If theauthentication request message does not comply with the appropriate 3DSProtocols, the authentication platform 614 bypasses determining if theACS 512 is available. In this situation, the authentication platform 614transmits an authentication response message indicating that thetransaction is considered merchant only and that no authentication wasattempted.

In some embodiments, the authentication platform 614 determines a risklevel based on the RBA result data. If the risk level is low, theauthentication platform 614 embeds an indicator in the authenticationresponse message indicating that the transaction is “fullyauthenticated.” If the risk level is not low, the authenticationplatform 614 embeds one or more indicators in the authenticationresponse message indicating that the transaction is a merchant onlytransaction and that authentication was attempted.

FIGS. 11A and 11B are swim-lane diagrams illustrating additional exampleembodiments involving conditional SCA evaluation on transactionsassociated with a regulated market. FIG. 11A is directed to transactionsthat are allowed to avoid regulator-imposed SCA step-up challenges whenthe transactions are determined to be of sufficiently low risk and lowvalue. FIG. 11B is directed to transactions that are forced into SCAstep-up challenges when the transactions are more risky or when thetransactions are of higher value. In such scenarios, any of theabove-described systems and methods involving the RBA-enabled directoryserver (or just “directory server”) 610 and RBA engine 612 may beemployed in conjunction with conditional SCA, subject to therestrictions imposed by regulators as described herein.

Referring now to FIG. 11A, in this example embodiment, at step 1110, thecardholder 22 initiates an online transaction with a merchant,represented here by 3DS server 506, via their computing device,represented here by 3DS client 502. 3DS server 506 generates andtransmits an AReq message 1102 to directory server 610 at step 1112 andextracts transaction data from AReq message (e.g., as described abovewith respect to FIG. 6). AReq message 1102 includes a transaction valuefor the transaction, as well as other authentication data associatedwith the transaction (e.g., as a 3DS AReq message). Directory server 610receives AReq message 1102 and determines that the transaction involvesa market regulated by a regulatory entity, such as a central bank of aparticular country associated with the transaction (e.g., based on theidentity or location of cardholder 22, merchant 24, merchant bank 26, orissuer bank 30).

Transactions in some regulated markets may be subject to forced SCA forall transactions. In the example embodiment, the regulated market forthis example transaction has opted into conditional SCA as describedherein. In such markets, regulators may generally mandate SCA ontransactions, but may allow transactions to be authenticated without SCAin particular circumstances. As such, directory server 610 identifies atransaction limit and a risk threshold for conditional SCA of thatparticular regulated market. The transaction limit represents athreshold transaction value below which SCA may be avoided if the riskthreshold is also satisfied. The risk threshold represents a level ofrisk of fraud associated with the transaction (e.g., as determined, or“scored,” by RBA engine 612). In other words, and for example, if therisk level of the transaction is “low” (e.g., below a risk scorethreshold) and the transaction is a “low-value” transaction (e.g., belowthe transaction threshold value), then SCA may not be mandated by theregulated entity. If the transaction value is not a low-valuetransaction (e.g., at or above the transaction threshold value) or ifthe transaction is not a low-risk transaction (e.g., at or above a riskscore threshold), then SCA may be mandated by the regulated entity.

Directory server 610 compares the transaction value to the transactionlimit set by the regulatory entity and, in this example, determines thatthe transaction value is less than the transaction limit (e.g., thetransaction is a “low-value” transaction). As such, directory server 610engages RBA engine 612 at step 1114 to evaluate risk associated withAReq. RBA engine 612 evaluates risk associated with the transactionusing the authentication data and other transaction data associated withAReq, as described above. RBA engine 612 generates risk-basedauthentication result data that includes a risk score for thetransaction.

In this example, RBA engine 612 compares the risk score generated forthis transaction to the risk threshold identified for this regulatedmarket and determines that the risk of fraud in this transaction isbelow the risk threshold. In some embodiments, the risk score and therisk threshold may be integer values that may be compared to determinewhether the risk score is more or less than the risk threshold. In otherembodiments, the risk threshold may be a category of a tiered set ofcategories (e.g., “low”, “medium”, “high”) and the risk score may be ofthat same tiered set of categories, or the risk score may be a valuethat is mapped into that tiered set of categories (e.g., withregulator-, issuer-, or system-defined ranges for each category). Forexample, RBA engine 612 may allow the regulators for this market todefine the “low risk” category as being any transaction score below 400(e.g., as evaluated under 3DS 2 by RBA engine 612).

Continuing this example, RBA engine 612 has determined, at step 1104,that the transaction is both “low” and “below.” In other words, thetransaction is both a low-value transaction as well as below theregulator's transaction threshold. As such, as far as the regulator isconcerned, the transaction is not mandated to have SCA performed.However, some issuers may have more stringent requirements for SCAstep-up, or may have other reasons for rejecting authenticationregardless of SCA step-up considerations. For example, some issuers mayreject any CNP transaction evaluating to a “high” risk. For ease ofdescription, such flow and rejections are not expressly illustrated inFIGS. 11A and 11B. Rather, FIGS. 11A and 11B focus on scenariosinvolving when SCA is mandated or allowed to be avoided.

In some scenarios, the authentication platform (e.g., directory server610 and RBA engine 612) may be entrusted to perform authenticationprocessing on behalf of issuer 514. In other scenarios, authenticationmay be performed by ACS 512. As such, at test 1116, if theauthentication platform is acting on behalf of issuer 514 forauthentication, then RBA engine 612 generates an ARes message 1106approving the transaction at step 1118 (presuming no other reason forauthentication rejection) and transmits ARes 1106 to 3DS server 506 atstep 1120 without having performed SCA step-up authentication onconsumer 22.

If, at test 1116, the authentication platform does not performauthentication on behalf of issuer 514 (e.g., issuer 514 has ACS 512perform authentication services), then RBA engine 612 transmits anenhanced AReq message 1108 to ACS 512 at step 1122. Enhanced AReq mayinclude, in addition to the additional RBA data described aboveassociated with 3DS 2, a data field indicating that SCA step-up is notmandated by the involved market(s) for this transaction. However, issuer514 or ACS 512 may otherwise determine to perform SCA on the transaction(e.g., if preferred by the issuer for certain types of transactions orother considerations). If, at test 1130, ACS 512 does not prompt SCAstep-up, then ACS 512 returns an ARes message 1132 to the authenticationplatform at step 1134 approving authentication of the transaction.

If, at test 1130, ACS 512 determines to prompt SCA step-up, then ACS 512prompts step-up 1138 via 3DS server 506 (or 3DS client 502) at step1136. Consumer 22 provides step-up input 1142 back to 3DS server 506 (ordirectly to ACS 512) and, upon successful step-up, ACS 512 transmits theARes message 1132 to the authentication service at step 1146.

Referring now to FIG. 11B, in this example, the authentication platformdetermines that the transaction does not meet the requirements to avoidSCA step-up and, as such, SCA step-up is mandated. In the exampleembodiment, RBA engine 612 determines, at step 1150, that either thetransaction value is above the transaction limit set by the regulatoryentity, or that the transaction risk does not satisfy the risk thresholdset by the regulatory entity, or both. If, at test 1152, theauthentication platform is acting on behalf of issuer 514, and presumingno other reason for denying authentication of the transaction, RBAengine 612 prompts step-up 1156 of consumer 22 at step 1154. Consumer 22responds with step-up input 1142 at step 1140, either directly withdirectory server 610 or via 3DS server 506 at step 1158 and, uponsuccessful step-up challenge, 3DS server 506 transmits ARes message 1106to 3DS server 506 approving authentication of the transaction.

If, at test 1152, ACS 512 is acting on behalf of issuer 514, RBA engine612 transmits, at step 1154, the enhanced AReq 1108 (represented here by1162) along with an indication to force SCA step-up challenge ofconsumer 22 for this transaction. Enhanced AReq may include, in additionto the additional RBA data described above associated with 3DS 2, a datafield mandating ACS 512 to perform SCA step-up for the transaction(e.g., if the transaction is otherwise deemed to be approved forauthentication by ACS 512). In other words, AReq 1108 serves to informACS 512 that the transaction may not be authenticated without SCA.Presuming no other reason to reject authentication of the transaction,ACS 512 identifies that the transaction is subject to a mandated SCAstep-up and prompts step-up 1138 in steps 1136, 1140, 1144, andtransmits ARes 1132 approving the transaction in steps 1146 and 1120, asdescribed above.

In some embodiments, the authentication platform provides a graphicaluser interface (GUI) dashboard (not shown) for use by the regulators.The GUI may, for example, allow the regulators to view and evaluatefraud data associated with their market. For example, in one embodiment,the GUI dashboard may be configured to display historical fraud dataindicating a level of fraud present in transactions not mandated to beauthenticated with SCA by RBA engine 612 when satisfying the riskthreshold and transaction limit set by the regulatory entity (e.g., apercentage of “frictionless transactions” within RBA, perhaps includingapproval rates or basis points of fraud). In one embodiment, the GUIdashboard may be configured to display historical fraud data indicatinga level of fraud present in transactions mandated to be authenticatedwith SCA by the RBA engine 612 when not satisfying one or more of therisk threshold or transaction limit (e.g., percentage of transactionsstepped-up within RBA, perhaps with the type of step-up, approval rates,basis points of fraud). Such data may include an electronic gross dollarvalue (eGDV), an eTransaction count, or growth over time for suchmetrics. Such data may also be presented by channel. For example, suchdata may be limited to mobile device transactions, browser-basedtransactions, telephone transactions, and mail transactions. As such,the GUI may allow the regulators to determine how their current settingsare impacting fraud in these types of transactions.

In some embodiments, the GUI allows the regulators to adjust conditionalSCA settings associated with their market. For example, the GUI mayallow the regulators to alter the risk threshold required to avoid SCA,or to alter the transaction limit for transactions that can avoid SCA.In some embodiments, the GUI provides simulation analysis of prospectivechanges to the conditional SCA settings. For example, using historicaldata, the GUI may provide a fraud impact analysis to a proposed higherrisk threshold, or to a proposed higher transaction limit, perhapsestimating a predicted level of fraud at the proposed settings. As such,the GUI may allow the regulators to determine potential impacts orpotential results based on prospective changes.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of an advanced authentication process 1200 forincreasing approvals, reducing fraud, and improving consumer experience.Authentication process 1200 may be implemented, for example, using thesystems and methods described herein. As shown in FIG. 12,authentication data 1202 is transmitted to an authentication platform1206 (such as authentication platform 614) through a smart interface1204. As described above, as compared to previous authentication methods(e.g., 3DS 1.0), authentication data 1202 under the 3DS 2 Protocol (andsubsequent versions of the 3DS Protocol) includes approximately tentimes the amount of transaction data to be gathered, analyzed, andutilized to prevent fraud. Using authentication data 1202,authentication platform 1206 performs smart authentication 1208 (asdescribed herein) to generate RBA results data. Decision intelligence(DI) 1210 uses other sources of data (i.e., a separate model) toinfluence authorization decisions. In some embodiments, the RBA resultsdata may be incorporated into DI 1210. These assessments enable aninterested party 1212 (e.g., the ACS, the merchant, and/or the issuer)to complete authentication (and authentication) of the transaction.

Authentication process 1200 enables authenticating an online user as alegitimate user of a payment account without having to ask additionalquestions of the user (e.g., as part of a step-up challenge) or havingto request additional inputs from the user. Thus, authentication process1200 assesses a risk of fraud without creating any additional frictionfor the user that may cause the user to terminate a transaction.

A processor or a processing element may employ artificial intelligenceand/or be trained using supervised or unsupervised machine learning, andthe machine learning program may employ a neural network, which may be aconvolutional neural network, a deep learning neural network, or acombined learning module or program that learns in two or more fields orareas of interest. Machine learning may involve identifying andrecognizing patterns in existing data in order to facilitate makingpredictions for subsequent data. Models may be created based uponexample inputs in order to make valid and reliable predictions for novelinputs.

Additionally or alternatively, the machine learning programs may betrained by inputting sample data sets or certain data into the programs,such as image data, text data, report data, and/or numerical analysis.The machine learning programs may utilize deep learning algorithms thatmay be primarily focused on pattern recognition, and may be trainedafter processing multiple examples. The machine learning programs mayinclude Bayesian program learning (BPL), voice recognition andsynthesis, image or object recognition, optical character recognition,and/or natural language processing—either individually or incombination. The machine learning programs may also include naturallanguage processing, semantic analysis, automatic reasoning, and/ormachine learning.

In supervised machine learning, a processing element may be providedwith example inputs and their associated outputs, and may seek todiscover a general rule that maps inputs to outputs, so that whensubsequent novel inputs are provided the processing element may, basedupon the discovered rule, accurately predict the correct output. Inunsupervised machine learning, the processing element may be required tofind its own structure in unlabeled example inputs. In one embodiment,machine learning techniques may be used to extract data about thecomputer device, the user of the computer device, the computer networkhosting the computer device, services executing on the computer device,and/or other data.

Based upon these analyses, the processing element may learn how toidentify characteristics and patterns that may then be applied totraining models, analyzing transaction and authentication data, anddetecting and analyzing risk.

As used herein, the term “non-transitory computer-readable media” isintended to be representative of any tangible computer-based deviceimplemented in any method or technology for short-term and long-termstorage of information, such as, computer-readable instructions, datastructures, program modules and sub-modules, or other data in anydevice. Therefore, the methods described herein may be encoded asexecutable instructions embodied in a tangible, non-transitory, computerreadable medium, including, without limitation, a storage device and/ora memory device. Such instructions, when executed by a processor, causethe processor to perform at least a portion of the methods describedherein. Moreover, as used herein, the term “non-transitorycomputer-readable media” includes all tangible, computer-readable media,including, without limitation, non-transitory computer storage devices,including, without limitation, volatile and nonvolatile media, andremovable and non-removable media such as a firmware, physical andvirtual storage, CD-ROMs, DVDs, and any other digital source such as anetwork or the Internet, as well as yet to be developed digital means,with the sole exception being a transitory, propagating signal.

This written description uses examples to disclose the disclosure,including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the embodiments, including making and using any devicesor systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scopeof the disclosure is defined by the claims, and may include otherexamples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples areintended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structuralelements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, orif they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantialdifferences from the literal languages of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for authenticatingan online user with an access control server (ACS), the methodcomprising: receiving, at a risk-based authentication enabled(RBA-enabled) directory server, an authentication request message, theauthentication request message including authentication data;extracting, using the RBA-enabled directory server, the authenticationdata from the authentication request message; transmitting the extractedauthentication data to an RBA engine; generating, using the RBA engine,based at least in part on the extracted authentication data, RBA resultdata including a risk score, a risk analysis, and at least one reasoncode; transmitting the RBA result data to the RBA-enabled directoryserver; embedding, using the RBA-enabled directory server, the RBAresult data into the authentication request message to generate anenhanced authentication request message; and transmitting the enhancedauthentication request message to the ACS to enable the ACS to make anauthentication decision based on the RBA result data.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein generating RBA result data comprises: establishing aplurality of reason code categories, each reason code category includinga plurality of anchors; activating at least one of the anchors based onthe extracted authentication data; and generating the at least onereason code based on the at least one activated anchor.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein embedding the RBA result data comprises appending theRBA result data to the authentication request message as an extensiblemarkup language (XML) extension of the authentication request message.4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, at theRBA-enabled directory server, an authentication response message fromthe ACS, the authentication response message including theauthentication decision.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein generatingRBA result data comprises comparing the authentication data to at leastone long term variable and at least one short term variable.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the at least one long term variable includeshistorical authentication data and historical authorization data.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein receiving an authentication request messagecomprises receiving an authentication request message complying with 3DS2 Protocol or subsequent 3DS Protocol versions.
 8. An authenticationplatform for authenticating an online user with an access control server(ACS), the authentication platform comprising: a memory device; and atleast one processor coupled to the memory device, the at least oneprocessor configured to: receive an authentication request message, theauthentication request message including authentication data; extractthe authentication data from the authentication request message;generate, based at least in part on the extracted authentication data,risk-based authentication (RBA) result data including a risk score, arisk analysis, and at least one reason code; embed the RBA result datainto the authentication request message to generate an enhancedauthentication request message; and transmit the enhanced authenticationrequest message to the ACS to enable the ACS to make an authenticationdecision based on the RBA result data.
 9. The authentication platform ofclaim 8, wherein to generate the RBA result data, the at least oneprocessor is configured to: establish a plurality of reason codecategories, each reason code category including a plurality of anchors;activate at least one of the anchors based on the extractedauthentication data; and generate the at least one reason code based onthe at least one activated anchor.
 10. The authentication platform ofclaim 8, wherein to embed the RBA result data, the at least oneprocessor is configured to append the RBA result data to theauthentication request message as an extensible markup language (XML)extension of the authentication request message.
 11. The authenticationplatform of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to receive an authentication response message from the ACS,the authentication response message including the authenticationdecision.
 12. The authentication platform of claim 8, wherein togenerate RBA result data, the at least one processor is configured tocompare the authentication data to at least one long term variable andat least one short term variable.
 13. The authentication platform ofclaim 12, wherein the at least one long term variable includeshistorical authentication data and historical authorization data. 14.The authentication platform of claim 8, wherein to receive anauthentication request message comprises, the at least one processor isconfigured to receive an authentication request message complying with3DS 2 Protocol or subsequent 3DS Protocol versions.
 15. At least onenon-transitory computer-readable storage media havingcomputer-executable instructions embodied thereon for authenticating anonline user on behalf of an access control server (ACS), wherein whenexecuted by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructionscause the at least one processor to: receive an authentication requestmessage, the authentication request message including authenticationdata; extract the authentication data from the authentication requestmessage; generate, based at least in part on the extractedauthentication data, risk-based authentication (RBA) result dataincluding a risk score, a risk analysis, and at least one reason code;embed the RBA result data into the authentication request message togenerate an enhanced authentication request message; and transmit theenhanced authentication request message to the ACS to enable the ACS tomake an authentication decision based on the RBA result data.
 16. Thecomputer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein to generate the RBAresult data, the computer-executable instructions cause the at least oneprocessor to: establish a plurality of reason code categories, eachreason code category including a plurality of anchors; activate at leastone of the anchors based on the extracted authentication data; andgenerate the at least one reason code based on the at least oneactivated anchor.
 17. The computer-readable storage media of claim 15,wherein to embed the RBA result data, the computer-executableinstructions cause the at least one processor to append the RBA resultdata to the authentication request message as an extensible markuplanguage (XML) extension of the authentication request message.
 18. Thecomputer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein thecomputer-executable instructions further cause the at least oneprocessor to receive an authentication response message from the ACS,the authentication response message including the authenticationdecision.
 19. The computer-readable storage media of claim 15, whereinto embed the RBA result data, the computer-executable instructions causethe at least one processor to compare the authentication data to atleast one long term variable and at least one short term variable. 20.The computer-readable storage media of claim 19, wherein the at leastone long term variable includes historical authentication data andhistorical authorization data.